Golden Eyes
by Shouraku
Summary: Kakashi's first student was his greatest secret. Kaka x OC.
1. The Compound

Disclaimer: It may surprise you to know that I don't own Naruto.

…

Kakashi strolled along Merchant Row, dodging the various vendors who crowded the streets while selling their wares. The noise and chaos was uncomfortable to his introverted nature, causing him to hurry towards the traditionally peaceful Uchiha compound at the end of the street. The Uchiha lived exclusively with the walled off area, which operated as a city within itself.

As always, two guards from the Konoha Police Force guarded the old wooden gate. He lifted his ANBU issue wolf mask and approached them while adorning his trademark eye crease and wave, "I'm here to begin my mission…"

One of the guards stepped forward, "What mission?"

"To train one of the Uchiha."

"Are you Hatake Kakashi? I'm rather surprised that they sent you...sixteen is a little young to be training thirteen year old."

Kakashi reached inside of flack jacket and began to search for his identification as the guards ignored his efforts and went to open the the gate. The old wooden doors creaked and groaned as they pushed them open and pointed in the general direction of sector two.

The path was crowded with large mansions, regal in stature yet built extremely close to each other. A city design reminiscent of an era long past. White stone walls covered wooden floors and wall panels that were all meticulously well maintained. Less effort seemed to have been put into the grounds surrounding the buildings, however, as the ground was unpaved the dirt surface unpacked. Irritating clouds of dust were kicked up by every passerby.

It wasn't until he reached the far corner of the compound that he found a large open space at the foot of a small house. It appeared to contain only two rooms, one on top of the other. The balcony on the second floor lead into what he assumed was a bedroom. Through the window on the lower lever, he could see a small kitchen. Many years ago it could have been a servant house for one of the mansions, but now it appeared to be no more than a dark wooden shell of a building. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought it abandoned.

Not more than fifty feet from the house, he began to sense something dark. The figure was hard to detect, and seemed to blend perfectly with the shadow of the compound's high walls. He focused on the feeling, absorbing the aura of the cold chakra emanating from the person hidden before him, "I am your instructor. I have been appointed by the Sandaime to oversee all aspects of your shinobi training. My name is Hatake Kakashi."

A distinctly feminine voice emanated from the shadows, "I am Uchiha Uindo Riba, and I am your student," she said in an unfamiliar accent.

"Okay, then why don't you come away from the wall and we can begin."

He had come to the compound with preconceived notions about what she would look like, as Uchiha traits were fairly standard, so when she emerged from the shadows he was quite shocked. She was the first Uchiha he had ever seen with red and brown streaked hair as opposed to solid black. Her eyes were stranger still, a golden color that stood in stark contrast to the typical obsidian that he had become accustom too.

He paused, "I will need to asses your skills, so for the next few months I will observe your current training regime and make any necessary adjustments."

She stared at him blankly, leading him to believe that she was less than fluent in the local language.

"Nod if you understand "train"."

She gave a slight nod and ran past him into the clearing to begin her training.

...

For the first few months, he sat on the roof of her house and carefully assessed her growth potential. He wasn't intrusive or demanding, just observant.

She was a swordsman first and foremost, and coupled it with a unique form of Taijutsu. He frequently marveled at the fluid moments of her black katana against her body as she glided silently across the ground.

"Riba, come up here and bring your katana," he shouted.

She finished her last set of maneuvers and gracefully leapt onto the roof and crouched before him, handing him her sword.

He gently ran his fingers along the blade, barely touching its surface, "Your sword burns if touched. I have never seen that before..."

She stared at him in silence. He wasn't sure if she failed to understand or just didn't see the need to answer.

"Okay, your attitude is beginning to irritate me, so why don't you go back down there and show me all the Ninjutsu that you know."

She jumped down and instantly produced a burst of black flames that slightly startled him. The strange fire was followed up with shadow clones and then…nothing.

He smiled as he picked up on her possible weakness. Her movements were exceptionally fluid and fast but her knowledge of Ninjutsu was severely limited.

He took off his wolf mask and leaped unceremoniously to the ground. The cloth mask that attached to his undershirt and covered his lower face exposed his eyes. The intimidation of his Sharingan seemed to have the desired effect as she began to back into the shadows of the compound's wall as soon as he looked at her.

"I am afraid that you would never survive an actual shinobi mission. Your skills are both extraordinary and limited. Defeat me now or I will fail you and leave you to wallow in your little shit hole of a house in disgrace," he said with a mocking edge.

It was a bluff of course. For Kakashi to fail her entirely, she would have to fail his team building exercises or something equally as severe. It was a mean trick, however, it would provide an important lesson about fighting battles that severely punish failure. "You may begin..."

In an instant, she vaporized into millions of tiny pieces that dissolved into the air. For the first time in many years Kakashi was stunned. She had literally disintegrated. It wasn't the seemingly impossible Ninjutsu that shocked him as much as the fact that she had obviously lied about showing him all the Ninjutsu that she knew.

He scanned the area for movement. It couldn't have been Genjutsu or he would have instantly seen through it, which meant that it wasn't a trick. He was in a bad situation, out in the open with no idea where his opponent was.

He turned, with every intention of running towards the cover of the nearest house, when he suddenly felt a cold breeze blow by his face, that was too chilled for a summer night. He could feel a presence beginning to materialize behind him. In one fluid motion he spun around and punched her in the gut with his full strength, and promptly broke almost every bone in his hand and lower arm. She was instantly knocked off her feet and landed on her back a good ten yards away.

The shock of watching her disintegrate and blow away in the wind had caught him off guard and he had hit her much harder then he had planed to. He ran up to her prone body, kunai in hand, and made a small cut in her traditional Uchiha one piece jumpsuit above where the blow had landed, and pulled the fabric aside.

The area he had hit was covered in dark grey scales. He watched in stunned silence as they began to recede back into her body until all that was left was her pale skin. They had apparently saved her from a ruptured spleen or internal bleeding.

For the first time since the death of his friend Obito, he began to panic. He lifted her small body and ran towards the compound's gate, dragging her feet against the ground as he struggled to hold her up, adrenaline preventing him from feeling the intense pain emanating from his injured arm. As he tripped forward, the reality of what he had done began to sink in. His first student could die from a blow that he landed out of juvenile shock. His complete loss of control disgusted him.

He ran up to the guards, "she needs immediate medical attention. You need to take her to the hospital!"

One of the guards walked over and moved Riba's hair away from her face and looked carefully at her unconscious form, "I'm sorry, but we can't allow her to leave the compound, she shouldn't even have been allowed out of her sector."

"This is serious! She could die without medical attention," he said in astonishment.

"We're not about to let her die. We'll have the finest doctors in Konoha come to her home and treat her, but I am afraid that we can not let her leave the compound under any circumstances."

Almost instantly, cloud of leaves spun in the air, signalling the retreat of one of the guards. The other looked down at Kakashi, and then nodded in the direction of sector two.

The doctors could move from the hospital to the Uchiha compound much faster then he could move to the hospital while trying to carry her, so he had no choice but to conceded. As he turned to leave the gate and drag Riba back to her house, the remaining guard noticed the state of his arm and gestured to him to stop. He reached inside a hidden pocket and took out a small silver whistle that produced a painfully high pitch squeal. Eventually another guard showed up and helped carry Riba back to her house and put her to bed.

The doctors from the hospital never came. The only doctors that were allowed to treat her were Uchiha born physicians who happened to resided inside the compound. Kakashi sat patiently outside of her house as one of the physicians attended to his shattered arm. There would obviously be no more training tonight.

After the doctors left, Kakashi wandered around the house and kept an eye on Riba. The first floor was nothing more then a small kitchen with a single door and window. Upstairs was a bathroom and a sparse bedroom that contained a dresser, futon, two bookshelves, and a sword stand. The shorter of the two shelves sat underneath a window that looked out onto the balcony. It was here that he spent the next three hours until she finally began to regain consciousness.

The moment that her eyes open, he began his interrogation, "I have a few questions about who and what you are that I would like to have answered before we continue working together. Do you understand?"

She sat up and leaned against the cold wooden wall, "that depends on what you chose to ask."

"Where are you from?"

"Uindo."

"Where is that?"

"In the land of the Dark Winds."

"Where is the land of the Dark Winds?"

"Far north."

He sighed as he began to realize that she had no intention of being forthcoming, "so….what _are_ you exactly?"

"I am your student."

"I don't want to play games with you. You know what I mean."

"I am a bijuu"

"You have one of the great tailed beasts sealed inside of you?"

"There isn't a beast inside of me."

"You just told me that there is a bijuu sealed inside of you. I'm confused..."

"Not too many years ago, there was a battle at the foot of a mountain that holds a great civilization. It wasn't the citizens that were fighting, but the Nine Tailed Fox and the last of the Five Tailed Dragons. The dark dragon was ultimately defeated and the fox left him to die. A child from the school of the sovereign left the crowd that had gathered on the edge of the mountain top city, and went to help the dying bijuu. However, no mortal creature could save such a beast. The dragon disintegrated into the air, and the child collapsed and died on the spot."

"That's too bad..."

"The child was reborn."

"...I don't understand what all this means...why are you here?"

"To train in the homeland of my parents."

"So your parents live in Uindo then? Why would they leave Konoha?"

"Because a marriage between an Uchiha and a Hyuuga is not allowed in the Fire Country."

"God, does that mean that you have inherited the eyes of both a Hyuuga and an Uchiha?"

"No, my eyes are not as strong as either. I don't possess the veins that are necessary to perform Byakugan, and my dark chakra has so far prevented me from activating my Sharingan."

He looking into her golden eyes with a whole new appreciation. They were the result of a mixture of Uchiha, Hyuuga, and whatever her "rebirth" had contributed. It was unheard of.

She paused "You realize that you can never speak of this, right?"

"Perhaps. Why shouldn't I?"

"There are people that hunt me; they would seal me inside of someone who would use my chakra. Those people will always exist, so the Uchiha Clan won't let me leave until representatives from Uindo come to retrieve me. Until then, I am a secret."

He was visibly upset to hear that she wasn't free to leave the compound, and therefore, couldn't go to the hospital if injured or run away if chased. For all intents and purposes, she was the Uchiha's prisoner.


	2. Burning in the Mind

Disclaimer: It would be wonderful to own Naruto, however, I don't.

Japanese translation:

Riba: part of the term "riba-su" meaning "reverse".

…

Riba had become an accomplished shinobi for being sixteen and never having been on a mission. Likewise, Kakashi had become quite an accomplished teacher for having to train his student secretly in a small secluded area for three years.

She had greatly improved in both her speed and swordsmanship, of which he took pride in encouraging. Her Ninjutsu, however, was still limited. Under his tutelage, the only completely new Ninjutsu she had managed to learn was an incomplete form of his Chidori. Though the black electricity she produced was menacing, the Ninjutsu can't be completed without an active Sharingan, which she was still lacking.

He had reasoned that her chakra was far too complex to ever allow her to master more than a select few Ninjutsu, thus a year into her training he took a different approach and focused on teaching her to master the few Ninjutsu that was already knew. She could now create multiple shadow clones that could explode at will, blow mansion sized balls of black fire, and perform her Ninjutsu seals one handed, a feat of which even he hadn't achieved.

As for her ability to disintegrate, he had a few ideas in mind for improving that particular talent as well. He decided to impart a scroll onto her that would greatly enhance her disappearing trick. It had taken forever for him to dig it out from under the floor boards of his apartment, but he didn't mind putting in the extra effort. It gave him something to do besides go on missions, train, and spy on her.

Up until a year ago, he had assumed that she spent her nights sleeping and preparing for her daily lessons. However, one morning he arrived at the compound early and felt the presence of two people within her house. He spied on the pair every chance he got after that night. Her friend was a fellow Uchiha of whom Kakashi had heard about, but didn't know personally. When he tried to question Riba about him, the only response he would get was that they taught each other Jutsu. He had tried to look up the child's record in ANBU headquarters, but the information was scant. Besides having unusually high test scores in school, he seemed to be just another Uchiha Genin. Riba was supposed to be kept a secret and removed from contact with the rest of the city, yet no one stopped the child from returning to visit her on a regular basis. It was suspicious, as if the child was above the law.

He scoffed as he approached Riba's house and noticed that, as usual, the Uchiha boy was sitting on the roof next to her quietly. The dark lines under the boy's eyes gave him a worn look, making him appear far more mature then his age would suggest.

Kakashi leapt onto roof and stared the pair down, "It is time for Riba's training, and for you to go."

"I haven't finished speaking with her," the boy said dryly.

"You have now. Go play with that little brother of yours or something and leave her to her lessons."

The boy turned to Riba and smiled before jumping off the roof and disappearing into the Uchiha compound.

Since Riba couldn't leave the sector, the majority of the "battlefield training" she received consisted of Kakashi telling her educational stories about his experiences as a shinobi. Usually ones that emphasized the importance of teamwork, discipline, or dedication. On occasion he would tell her one of his more gruesome stories to illustrate the dangers of a failed mission, and once in a great while, one just to make her laugh. Such stories usually involved Gai and some type of frivolous competition. At first, talking about himself had been difficult, being introverted as he was, however he had eventually become comfortable enough to enjoy the discussions.

He leaned back and laid down on the hard terra-cotta roof, "do you have any questions for me today?"

She paused, "Why do you wear a cloth mask underneath your ANBU mask?"

"It makes it harder for my enemies to decipher my emotions, and therefore my intent. It is a technique that worked well for my father, so I adopted it."

"Can I see you without it?"

"Ah no, I would rather not take my mask off..." Over time his mask had turned from preference to requirement. He had become so accustom to hiding his appearance, and by extension himself, that he was plagued by the feeling that every time he took it off, everything that he held secret was plainly visible to anyone who cared to look.

"Please?"

"This is not up for debate."

"I'm not your enemy Kakashi, what cause do you have to hide yourself from me?"

He considered telling her the truth, but quickly decided against it, "You haven't earned it. If you want to see my face so badly then improve enough in your training to take it from me."

"Okay Kakashi, I understand," she said politely.

He smiled at her respectful compliance as he reached inside his kunai pouch and pulled out a small green scroll and promptly handed it to her, "I have something for you, a secret that was given to me by my teacher, the Fourth Hokage."

"Why thank you. What is it?"

"It is the Hiraishin no Jutsu scroll, and I want you to begin learning it immediately."

She untied the ribbon and laid the scroll out before her. The writing was so complex that it took her the rest of the day to read and comprehend. When it became too dark for her to continue, they retired to her house.

"So this will let me teleport form one location to another?"

"Essentially yes, it's a time-space Jutsu."

"It appears to be very complicated. I may need to see you do it before I can truly understand the procedure."

"I can't. I copied the Yondaime when he preformed it once, but am unable to do it myself."

"Then what leads you to believe that I will succeed where even you have failed?"

"Because you are the only person, or whatever you are, that I have ever seen dissolve. I have seen Jutsu that creates the appearance of dissolving, but you are the only one I know who can actually do it."

"You may be surprised to know how many people have the ability to dissolve and recombine."

"Well, I've never heard of it before."

"Just because you have never seen something happen, doesn't mean that it can't. However, dissolving and teleporting are not the same. Just because I can do one doesn't mean that I can do the other."

"I realize that, but dissolving and recombining requires the ability to move from one point to another blindly. I believe that the same skill is necessary to perform Hiraishin no Jutsu, so you are already ahead of everyone else who has ever attempted it besides the Yondaime."

"I understand the theory, but I don't know if I can replicate it."

She rolled the scroll up and handed it back to him before lying down on her futon and pulling a blanket over her small body, leaving enough space for him to join her. He couldn't remember when he had started sleeping at her house, but it starved off the loneliness and she never complained.

…

The next day he left on a mission had taken him to the Tea country for two weeks of boredom. Contrary to popular belief, not all ANBU missions were daring and exciting. The Tea Lords were nothing more than paranoid old men who required frequent meetings to discuss the "potential assassinations" they insisted were about to unfold. It was only through a large monetary donation that they were able to arrange such a charade. After such a long period of monotony, returning to Konoha and his everyday existence seemed like an adventure.

As he entered the sector that contained Riba's house, he was somewhat relieved to see her training alone. She stood within a series of circles that she had drawn on the ground with little bits of chalk. Originally, he had been clueless as to why she wanted her house to be surrounded by polka dots. It wasn't until he saw her Taijutsu that he understood her intent. She would perform a complex series of graceful movements, while only stepping inside of the circles. If she accidentally stepped outside of one, she would stop and start over from the beginning. The purpose was to improve the accuracy of her steps, thus increasing her ability to control the intricacies of her movements. As her skill improved, she would draw fewer and smaller circles, increasing the difficulty.

He removed his ANBU mask and waited until she had completed her maneuver, "it's time to stop playing with your little dots and begin some real training," he said mockingly.

Her golden eyes narrowed at the insult as he positioned himself across from her. "I am afraid that you would never survive an actual shinobi mission. Your skills are both extraordinary and limited. Defeat me now or I will fail you and leave you to wallow in your little shit hole of a house in..."

She initiated combat instantly. Her movements were so fast and well placed that he would have been defeated had he not been using his Sharingan to track her. Though it was a struggle, he was able to block or dodge most of her attacks. She was fluid, dexterous, and always close enough to keep him within the reach of her sword.

After a few heated moments, she backed off. He figured that she was planning out her next attack sequence, so he used the opportunity to crouch down and preformed the hand seals for Chidori. Since she couldn't activate her Sharingan, he reasoned that she didn't stand a chance of evading his Jutsu.

Then suddenly, in the blink of an eye, she disappeared and reappeared behind him, one hand holding her sword to his throat, the other on his face, inching her fingers under the upper rim of his mask. He couldn't believe it. In the time he had been away in the Tea Country, she had mastered Hiraishin no Jutsu. She didn't even have to place a location tag on him like the Yondaime.

His irrational fear of having his mask removed began to surface. It was a symbol of his secrets and the atrocities he had committed. The kind that only existed deep inside sealed files in the Jounin and ANBU headquarters and in his repressed memories.

Slowly, she pulled her finger out of his mask and away from his face. The blade of her sword hisses as the searing heat connected with the cold metal of the sheath on her back. He could feel her fingers slowly trace the edge of his mask before she let go and walked towards the house.

"You could have ripped my mask off," he snapped.

"If you wanted me to see your face then you will would have shown it to me. I just wanted to know if could earn the right to see it. I don't care what your face looks like."

His pulse began to slow as he regained his composer, "that's a relief, I suppose."

She sopped and looked over her shoulder, "however, there is something that I would like to see."

"Do I want to ask what would be?"

"Genjutsu, the world inside the Sharingan. The few Uchiha around here that will speak to me have refused to share."

"That's because it's not a toy."

"Which is exactly why I want to learn about it from someone I trust."

The idea didn't sit well with him. The Genjutsu produced by his Sharingan was dangerous. It had side effects that affected both the user and opponent. Yet, she made a good point. Better she learn about it from him than from her enemies. It had already been a dangerous and traumatizing morning, might as well make it a dangerous and traumatizing day.

"Okay, I'll show you, but only this once." He jumped up onto her porch and she quickly followed. He walked over and grabbed her by the shoulders, causing her to jumped back at the sudden contact.

"Don't move. Once you are under my Genjutsu you will be frozen in position, and when I release you, you'll be disoriented"

He quickly surveyed the area to make sure that it would be safe to put them in such a vulnerable position, then focused in on her curiosity fill eyes. The tomes in his eye began to spin as he constructed his Genjutsu in her mind.

They were standing on the edge of a cliff overlooking a gigantic abyss. Behind them was a sea of small white flowers in a clearing surrounded by a lush forest. There was no wind, so everything remained perfectly still. The forest lacked sound, as did the abyss, making the silent world seem awkwardly unnatural.

"Kakashi, can you see what I 'm seeing?"

"Yes, I'm in your mind with you."

"This place is gorgeous. I assume that it's substantially more pleasant than what you show your enemies."

"It is, but you get the point."

"What if I were to jump off the cliff, would I die?"

"No, I made the abyss endless just in case you decided to be spontaneous. You would continue to fall until I released us."

"And what if it wasn't bottomless?"

"Your mind would believe that you had fallen to the ground and would trigger the appropriate pain responses. Your physical body, however, would remain unharmed." He sat down with his legs hanging over the edge of the cliff and she sat down beside him. He scooted close and snaked his arm around her waist.

"What are you doing?"

"Preventing you from getting brave and jumping."

She leaned forward and stared into the endless darkness as his grip tightened around her, "this world doesn't feel right. It's missing key elements that are unavoidable in the real world, like with the shadows on the rock faces."

"What about them?"

"There are none. There's no sun here, just undirected omnipresent light, so everything appears more flat than it should."

"You know, generating these illusions is extremely difficult. I have to think of every element and texture and build it within your mind. The level of complexity you see here took the majority of my life to learn how to represent. It takes genius to be a Genjutsu master," he said absently. Only semi-bothering to listen to her complaints.

They sat silently on the edge of the cliff for quite some time, basking in the peaceful surroundings and comfort of human contact. A pleasure which he rarely partook in due to his strict standards and personal preferences. He closed his eyes and listen to her breath, the rhythmic nature of which was hypnotically relaxing.

He shifted slightly and heard a small crack. He felt around on the ground a bit to see if he had sat on anything important, when he heard the crack again, quicker and more high pitched them before. At first it was random, but then became more periodic, each time changing slightly and morphing into something vaguely recognizable.

He looked around, "can you hear that?"

She continued to stare down into the abyss. Gradually a devilish smile crossed her lips as the sound became more refined and morphed into a chirp that mimicked that of a cricket. "It sounds pretty accurate actually. Quite the achievement given my lack of experience."

"Riba, what are you doing?" he asked sternly.

"Altering the environment."

"Stop."

"Why? It exists within _my_ mind. Why shouldn't I have control over its design?"

"Because loss of control is the whole point. Don't play with this, it's not a game and is dangerous for the both of us."

The temperature began to drop suddenly and he started to shiver. Somehow she was making a connection to his mind and altering their joint perception. The realization that she was manipulating the Genjutsu from within him to create changes in her was unnerving. He instinctively began to isolate his thoughts and attempted to push her back into her own mind.

All of a sudden, she started to squirm as if she was trying to escape his touch. He released her instantly and she began to fall forward. He grabbed her collar and tried to pull her back but she started to scream and struggle against him. The Genjustu destabilized as he lost focus, and the link between their thoughts was severed.

As the images faded, he felt her body go limp in his arms. The pain ha caused her to pass into a dreamless sleep, a common side affect of the Sharingan.

He wondered through the desolate, late night, streets of Konoha as he waited for her to recover. It was generally a slow process, and since she had already slept the day away, he figured that she wouldn't be cognizant until the next day at the least.

He made a detour and stopped by the memorial of the fallen shinobi. Many of the names engraved on its smooth gray surface were familiar and dear and to him. He sat down and leaned his back against a nearby bench. The intense use of his sharingan and the associated mental distress was taking its toll on his mind and body. He felt so very tired and his constitution could no longer support his desire to stay awake. Eventually, he succumbed and drifted off to sleep.

...

A small yellow bird landed on a branch that was too weak to supports its weight. The resulting snap fitfully woke Kakashi from his slumber. The gentle demeanor of the city at dawn stood in stark contrast to his mood. He left the memorial and walked past merchant row and down to the Uchiha compound, passing the gate guards without so much as an upward glance.

Her house was bathed in the warm glow of the morning sun, making its normally dilapidated exterior appear almost pleasant. Suspiciously, he didn't detect any movement inside.

He gently tapped on the door and called out, "you've been asleep for a quite a while, are you awake? Are you alright in there?"

After a moment he stepped back and jumped up onto her balcony and look through her bedroom window. The room was barren, all her things had been removed. All that was left was her bookshelves and an empty sword stand.

He began to run before his mind could consciously process what he should do. He bolted past the front gate ran straight to Hokage tower, leaping from floor to floor along its tiered exterior until he reached the Sandaime's office. He collected his thoughts and adorned his most casual looking expression before he gently tapped on glass window and was consequently welcomed inside.

The Hokage sat behind his large oak desk with piles of paperwork surrounding him. He looked up at the Kakashi and motioned for him to have a seat, "is there something I can do for you?"

Kakashi sat down and began to catch his breath, "yes, I was wondering where my mission has been relocated to."

"I assume that you're not referring to any of your current ANBU missions."

"No, the long term mission at the Uchiha compound."

The Hokage shifted in his seat and stared directly into Kakashi's feigned emotionless eyes, "a team of Shadows came to pick her up late last night."

"Shadows? I'm afraid I don't quite understand."

"The Shadows are the most elite assassins the world has ever known. They came to return her to her home land of Uindo."

"Why wasn't I notified that my mission was being relocated to the unexplored northern region?"

"Because your mission has not been relocated, it has concluded."

His heart began to palpitate, "why so suddenly? Is something wrong?"

The Sandaime leaned across his desk and whispered, "yes. The Uchiha and Hyuuga clans have been allied with Uindo since long before Konoha was even conceived of. They report all activities related to their respective clans to Uindo on a monthly basis, and send representatives to sit in the Uindo High Council whenever a full session is called. As a result, word of the recent turmoil within the Uchiha clan has reached the ears of Uindo's elders, and they no longer feel that your student is safe within the compound."

"Turmoil? What turmoil?"

"I am not at liberty to discuss Uchiha politics with you Kakashi. However, I will say that the recent suicide of an elite Uchiha shinobi is now suspected to be a murder. I'm sorry that I couldn't notify you of the completion of your mission sooner, but I was just made aware myself."

The room went silent as both men absorbed the implications of the news. Eventually, Kakashi stood and bowed respectfully to the Hokage and left Hokage tower without uttering a word.


	3. The Return

Disclaimer: It is truly unfortunate that I don't own Naruto.

In case you were wondering, here are the relative ages of some Naruto characters at this point in the story:

Kakashi: 31

Riba: 28

Itachi: 22

Rookie Nine (Sakura, Neji, Naruto, Sasuke, etc.): 20

Japanese translation:

Senbon: a long sharp needle, such as the one that Genma carries in his mouth.

Hitae-ate: a shinobi's headband.

…

It had been a rowdy night at The Little Boxer, Kakashi and Genma's favorite drinking establishment, and was late in the evening when the two Jounin finally ended their drinking and flirting in favor of making their way home. The streets were dark and quite, giving the city an abandoned feel. With no passersby to observe, Kakashi opted to reach into the pouch at his side and fish out his newest volume of Icha Icha. Genma, on the other hand, was in far too good of a mood to let his friend's usual state of indifference ruin their walk.

"Seriously Kakashi, we spend the night with the finest specimens of women that are ever likely to cross our paths, and you decide to leave early. On top of that, you are obviously planning to spend the walk home reading about the finest specimens of fake women that are ever likely to cross your books. You have some serious issues with the fairer sex my friend.."

"I will have you know that these women have the distinct benefit of not being able to talk back."

Genma rolled his eyes, "so basically, you don't like talking to women."

"No, not especially."

"Ever?"

"Ever."

"So you are saying that you have never had a conversation with a woman, sexual or otherwise, that you honestly enjoyed?"

Kakashi attempted to ignore the question, but Genma was not about to let it slide,"can I assume from your silence Hatake that there's something you're not telling me?"

Kakashi instantly decided that it would be best not to answer. His former student was still considered classified, which meant that as far as Konoha was concerned, she didn't exist It had been almost twelve years since he had seen Riba, and because of her classified status, he was never notified of her condition or progress. She could be dead for all he knew. He didn't think about her as often as he used to, however every year as fall approached, the cool autumn winds would bring his thoughts back to her. A small part of him would always wondered if she was in the air somewhere, drifting around him. Yet, she had never returned to Konoha and was essentially lost to him.

Kakashi sighed in frustration, "I don't want to discuss my past relationships with you."

"Why? Are they so deviant that even I would be shocked?"

"No, actually they would probably just bore you."

In the distance, Kakashi could hear alarms begin to sound. The shrill squeal of the warning sirens usually indicated that an intruder had invaded Konoha's perimeter, "we should probably head over to Hokage Tower and get a briefing on the situation."

Genma nodded in agreement, and the two men dashed towards the far end of the city to receive their invasion response orders. They made it to the foot of Hokage Tower in a matter of minutes, yet to their surprise, all seemed quiet. Kakashi figured that most of the shinobi had gone to the entrance gates to examine the source of the alarm. Unlike most shinobi, he was not so naive. He knew it was entirely possible that the intruders had already infiltrated the city, and thus someone would have to stay and search the village's interior.

Genma and Kakashi approached Hokage Tower cautiously as they noticed the Godamie standing outside.

"Is there something wrong Tsunade-sama? We heard the alarm," Genma said as he surveyed the area.

"Someone approached the front gate, and when asked for identification evaded the guards and entered the city," she responded calmly.

"What would you have us do?"

"Just wait."

She turned towards Hokage Tower, closed her eyes, and smiled as the wind whipped around her face, her long blond hair blowing in the breeze. Time seemed to stop in Kakashi's mind as the familiarity of the situation sank in. The breeze was hitting Tsunade, but not he or Genma, and therefore was small and localized. In that moment, as if in response to his thoughts, the form of a woman began to take shape. Kakashi stood breathless as she recombined and stepped forward to embrace the Hokage.

Tsunade smiled, "welcome back Riba. I trust that your return to Konoha signals the completion of your mission."

"Yes, I received your proposition last year and left immediately. I am here to fulfill my part of the bargain."

Kakashi was amazed at how much she had matured. She was no more then an inch shorter than him now, but that was most likely due to the wedged heels on her shoes. She wore black stockings that reached up past her knees, showing a small amount of skin between the stockings and her black Uchiha one piece outfit. The jumpsuit fit tight against her body, with the exception of a loose high collar, as was common in Uchiha fashion. Her multicolored hair was wrapped in a tight bun and held in place by a senbon. From his vantage, Kakashi was barely able to see that her eyes had transformed into golden Sharingan. With the exception of their color, they were indistinguishable from the typical Uchiha version. Regardless of the fact that her impure eyes would never grant her the same power as pure-blooded Uchiha, he was pleased. He had always wondered whether her eyes would favor her Uchiha or Hyuuga half.

Tsunade smiled, "It's starting to get chilly out, why don't you come to my office and we can discuss your compensation. Kakashi, Genma, you may accompany us if you wish."

She walked through Hokage Tower's main doors with Riba following close behind and Kakashi and Genma following at a distance. After stopping a wandering Jounin and ordering him to call off the invasion alarm, Tsunade lead the group into her office and sat behind her large wooden desk. She grinned with anticipation as Genma and Kakashi walked over to the windows and stood silently against the wall.

Riba unclenched her fists and laid her hands on the desk. They were covered in rings, one on each finger. Tsunade inspected them closely, "I thought that there were only nine, where did you get the tenth?"

"From Orochimaru, consider it a bonus."

Kakashi and Genma were practically falling over themselves in an effort to get a better look while still remaining in their positions against the wall. Tsunade chuckled, "I might as well tell you boys, there's no point in trying to hide it now given the uproar that Riba created. The gossip will probably have spread all over town by tomorrow at the latest anyway...Konoha hired her to collect the rings of all of the members of the Akatsuki criminal organization."

Genma scoffed, "just what the hell are a bunch of rings supposed to do for us?"

She shook her head disapprovingly, "Konoha shinobi can't outright attack the Akatsuki without provoking a war, yet we needed to let them know that we posses the power to infiltrate them if we feel it is necessary."

"But how are they going to know that she was hired by Konoha?"

"A prominent Akatsuki member is very familiar with her, as well as the politics of Konoha and Uindo. Based on that knowledge, I am sure they have figured out who sent her."

Kakashi nodded, "If you have access to shinobi that posses the delicacy and stealth to steal from Akatsuki member's own hands, then you have the ability to assassinate them just as easily."

"There was nothing delicate about it" Ibiki's voice emanated from the far end of the office as he walked in. "I am sorry to interrupt, but one of the elders saw your friend here disintegrate in front of the gate guards and ordered a review of her profile. ANBU headquarters pulled up all known data form the last year that fit her description. I have here a report of an unknown female shinobi, possibly associated with Konoha, that was held in almost every hidden village's prison and entered into frequent confrontations with Akatsuki members. Since you haven't killed her, I'll assume that she was invited, but what should I tell the elders?"

Tsunade looked over at Riba, "I hope you can provide an explanation as to your deviant actions..."

One by one she removed the rings and placed them on the desk, "I had to get myself thrown into prison so that I could acquire information about my targets. There is no one better equipped to provide information about criminal organizations than criminals."

Tsunade chuckled, "well there you have it Ibiki."

Neither impressed nor unimpressed by her reasoning, Ibiki turned and left the room. Tsunade leaned over her desk and collected the rings. "You've done well. Now it's time for Konoha to repay you. Tonight I will submit my request to have you entered in the Jounin exams. If the paperwork is processed tonight then you will be able to participate in this year's exam, but I make no promises."

"I understand Tsunade, thank you."

"It's my distinct pleasure."

In an instant, Riba burst into millions of tiny pieces that dissolved into the air. As quickly as she had arrived, she was gone.

"Tsunade-sama, you can't possibly let a foreign shinobi with a prison record take the Konoha Jounin exams! She hasn't progressed up the ranks in this village. You can't just start her at the top," Genma balked.

"I am the Hokage, thus I can recommend anyone I damn well please. Also, I'll have you know that she was originally trained in Konohagakure by a Konoha Jounin, and I consider her recent S-ranked Akatsuki mission more than worthy of a field promotion to the rank of Chuunin. Therefore, she is fully qualified to participate in the exams tomorrow, with the council's approval of course."

"Which Jounin trained her? I've never seen her before."

"That information is classified, just as she was." Tsunade picked up a stack of papers from her desk and began to read, her actions dictating that she considered the conversation to be over.

Genma left the Hokages office with Kakashi following close behind. "My god Kakashi, I just saw the finest specimen of woman ever likely to cross my path outside of my dreams!"

"Yes I know. This is the fifth time you've said that tonight."

"Who do you think trained her? Given her age, it must be one of the older Jounin, maybe someone who has since retired?"

"I wouldn't know," he lied.

"And how did she disintegrate like that? It must be some kind of weird Genjutsu."

"It's not."

"How the hell do you know?"

"I just know. Now, I need to return home and rest up for tomorrow, it's going to be a long day."

He left Genma standing at Hokage Tower's entrance. As he walked down the quiet streets towards his small apartment, he though of Sakura and Naruto's Jounin exams and how proud he had been of their achievements. He had silently watched them from the upper balcony of the Konoha Arena, holding his breath at every maneuver they preformed. Now it was Riba's turn to strive for success as they had done before her.

He was pleased to know that his friend hadn't been taken from her imprisonment in the Uchiha compound only to be imprisoned again in some foreign land, as he had originally feared. She had taken on missions and progressed in her training, and he was sure that tomorrow he could finally see his former student become the shinobi he always knew she could be.

…

It had been a long week. Kakashi had reported to Jounin headquarters at least once a day to check the status of the examinees. Riba had passed both the written and field tests with flying colors and was scheduled to participate in the final round at noon. Unlike the Chuunin exams, the Jounin exams were a closely guarded secret. All Jounin that were not currently engaged in a mission were required to attend. Only the Hokage, the elder council members, and Konoha Jounin could enter the arena during the final round. Intrusion by a non qualified shinobi during the exam was punishable by death.

He ran to the arena and sat in the upper decks. The seats were elevated a good fifty feet off of the ground to help protect the observers from stray attacks. From his vantage, he could see Tsunade entering the Hokage's booth and signaling Genma to bring in the first examinee.

Genma opened the large wooden door that lead onto the field and poked his head into the waiting room behind. A few seconds later, Riba entered the arena. Not surprisingly, he had selected her for the first battle. She stepped into the center of the field as he left for the upper decks, locking the door behind him.

Kakashi was stunned at her appearance. She was wearing the same boots and stockings as before, with her hair tied up and held by the same senbon. However, instead of her black Uchiha jumpsuit, she was wearing only a corset and a pair of black shorts with her signature black sword was fastened to her back with a leather strap. He almost fell out of his seat at the sight of her, as did most of the male shinobi in the audience. It was obvious that she wanted her skin to be visible to the audience, but for what reason he could only guess.

Tsunade was not amused by the crowd's response, "Genma, stop goofing off and turn on the selection board." she shouted.

Without taking his eyes off of Riba, he reached over and activated board. Tsunade rose from her seat, "Uchiha Uindo Riba, the board will randomly select the name of a Jounin in this arena. If you truly want to rise in rank, you will have to kill the person that the board selects and take their place."

The names on the board alternated quickly, flipping through the Jounin roster and finally stopping on Hyuuga Neji.

Tsunade scanned the crowd, "Hyuuga Neji, please take your place on the field."

Kakashi leaned back in his seat. It would take a minute or two for Neji to prepare himself and enter the arena. He happened to glance at the entrance to the upper decks and saw that Kurenai had just arrived. He motioned for her to take the seat next to him.

She ran over and sat down enthusiastically, "I can't believe it's really her!"

"You know the Uchiha?"

"Oh yes. When I was a teenager, I lived in an apartment that was close to the compound. Sometimes at night, I could see her sitting on the roof of her house. A week before my Chuunin exam, I was practicing Taijutsu in my room. I had happened to look out of my window and saw her sitting in her usual place. Then, all of a sudden, she disappeared. When I stepped out onto my balcony to get a better look, she suddenly materialized beside me. I was shocked, but she didn't seem to want to hurt me. Instead she asked me what I was doing, and I told her about the exam. She told me that she could help, but couldn't be away for long without arousing met every night at training ground two until her teacher returned from his mission. I passed the exam on my first try, and was so thankful that I wanted to find her and let her know. For years I watched for her on that roof, but she never returned. After Itachi murdered the Uchiha clan and the compound was abandoned, I went to her house. It looked like she had been gone for a long time, and I was never able to find out what had happened."

Kakashi hadn't seen her so happy since long before her husband had died. Though he would never show it, he was equally as excited. He looked down at the field as Neji was taking his place opposite to Riba.

He noticed Neji's slight hesitation almost immediately. "Classified information my ass, quite a few people seem to recognize her," he grumbled.

Genma raised his hand and the two opponents dropped into their offensive stances. Tsunade sent Genma an approving glance and he dropped his hand sharply to his side, signaling the beginning of the match. On the field, Neji immediately activated his Byakugan and began performing the seals for Hakkeshou Kaiten.

"Neji isn't kidding around, bringing out Heavenly Spin for his first attack," Kurenai said.

"I agree, it's a rather extreme Jutsu to use so early in the encounter, he must know something we don't."

Blue chakra surrounded Neji in a bubble of energy. The half sphere grew in size until it engulfed Riba as well. The crowd sat on the edge of their seats, waiting for the dust to settle enough to assess her fate. Very slowly, the visibility improved. There was a large crater in the ground with Neji and Riba standing inside of it, both unscathed. She hadn't moved an inch from her original position.

Whispers of amazement emanated from the crowd. Riba was covered in small grey scales that were receding back into her skin. Neji seemed angered by the lack of effect that his attack had. He ran forward, covering the distance between them in mere seconds, and landed a pressure point attack on her neck. In that instant, Riba exploded, sending Neji flying back into the far wall.

Kakashi smirked, _an exploding shadow clone. She must have made the switch when the cloud of dust arose_.

Neji collected himself and returned to his poison on the field, just in time to see Riba recombine in front of him. Her eyelids slowly opened, revealing the golden Sharingan underneath. At the same time, small black dots began to appear on her skin, that expanded and formed curved lines, covering her arms and half of her back. Two in particular extended onto her neck and branched, half of each went higher up her neck while the others spread down onto her chest. At first Kakashi thought they were a cursed seal as they looked like much longer versions of Sasuke's.

"What is that?" Kurenai gasped.

"Tattoos...they probably can't be seen until they fill with chakra. She might be planning a complicated Jutsu and is filling up her reserves to support it."

He knew of only one Jutsu that would require that much chakra, and watched silently as her left hand formed the seals for Chidori. Black lighting radiated as she ran forward with her trademark speed and grace. Neji recognized the Jutsu immediately and prepared his defensive stance.

"She is going to kill him...Stop her!" Tsunade shouted.

Tsunade sprung to her feet as Genma leaped into the ring. Before he hit the ground, Riba had disappeared and teleported to Neji's back. The crowd gasped, Riba and Neji were standing back to back, a foot or two apart. As Genma began to step forward, he noticed what Kakashi had seen instantly from the stands, she had something tucked under her arm. Her dark Chidori had dissipated and in its place was her black sword, held in a revered position. She held the hilt with both hands and the blade reached under her arm, through Neji's back, and out of his chest. Neji tried to grab the blade and was promptly burned by the searing metal, and hissed in pain.

Kakashi looked on with both horror and amazement at the scene that was unfolding before him, "the Dark Chidori was a diversion."

Kurenai didn't respond. She just stared at Tsunade as the arena fell silent, awaiting her judgement.

"He is still alive. This round is not over until one of you is dead," Tsunade said threateningly.

Riba glared at her, "I know of no crime that he the Hyuuga has committed against Konohagakure that would warrant his death."

"It doesn't matter what he has or hasn't done. You have a direct order to kill him."

"I am afraid that if killing a Konoha shinobi merely to gain rank is considered acceptable in this village, then I was mistaken in my desire to return." She slowly pulled her sword out of Neji's chest. The heat from the blade had cauterized the wound, preventing it from bleeding. Without the sword holding him up, Neji promptly fell to the ground. Without a word, she turned and walked out of the arena as medical staff flooded in.

Kakashi sat back in his seat and grinned. Like the all the other Jounin in the arena, he knew the true purpose of the test was not death. The examiners purposely put the Chuunin in a no-win scenarios. If they killed their opponent, they have fulfilled their mission, but betrayed their innocent comrade. If they refuse to kill their opponent, they disobeyed a direct order from the Hokage, but their innocent comrade would live. Konoha didn't need shinobi that blindly followed orders without consideration of the consequences. Blindly following orders was dangerous as there was always the possibility that the situation may change in such a way that the original orders and mission guidelines were no longer reasonable, and killing an innocent person merely to gain rank was unreasonable, no matter who ordered it. The examiners would never actually let someone die, of course, and would stop the fight if it looked like an examinee was seriously about to kill their opponent.

The only way to pass the final round was to fail it. He sighed with satisfaction, she was truly a student of his.

…

Kakashi decide to have a walk down merchant row after the exam. Following the final battle, Tsunade had called the attending Jounin together to discuss which of the examinees would be promoted to the rank of Jounin. The vote to accept Riba was unanimous. He wasn't surprised as she had possessed unprecedented intelligence and judgment. All of his students had been that way.

He thought back to Naruto and Sakura's promotions, when he had gone out of his way to buy them each something that would be both appropriate and useful. A difficult task for someone who was not accustom to being thoughtful. He had purchased a year's worth of Raman for Naruto from his favorite Ramen stand. It had been expensive, but he knew that he had gotten the better part of the deal. The owner of the shop had underestimated the amount of ramen that Naruto could eat in a year's time if told that the supply was free and unlimited. For Sakura, he had purchased a special medical pack and filled it with every kind of device that a medic could ever need. Each tool had been specifically designed to folded up, or was as small as possible, to fit in the bag while still being very light weight. Sakura's medical bag contained enough specialized equipment to allow her to perform surgery in even the most extreme conditions. Kakashi wanted to find something equally as good, if not better, for Riba.

It took hours of wondering and three trips to the memorial for inspiration for him to finally decide on what to get her. He was forced to put in an extremely expensive request for rush completion and delivery, but he knew it would be worth the price.

Late that night, his order was delivered to his apartment. He carefully opened the small mahogany box and inspected its contents. A pair of leather gloves and a leather hitae-ate sat inside. They had turned out even better than he had expected. The gloves were finger-less like his, but instead of stopping at the wrist, they would stretch all the way up past her elbows, and were made of the finest black leather in all of Konoha. The hitae-ate bore a customized version of the Konoha leaf symbol, as he had asked the metallurgist to add small lines around the leaf to indicate wisps of wind.

He quickly left his apartment with every intention of heading to her house, and was surprised to find two masked ANBU standing outside his door. The men seemed surprised at his sudden appearance, but were none the less calm, "the elder council wishes to speak with you."

Orders from the elder council required immediate attention, and thus he had no choice but to attend whatever meeting they had arranged for him. The ANBU hastilly escorted him to the secret chambers below Hokage Tower.

The ANBU shinobi ushered him inside and locked he large metal doors behind him. The room was bare; three mats were laid out on the floor, surrounded by four candles. He sat on the unoccupied mat in front of the two elder shinobi and sighed. Being called into the elder's chambers usually meant that you were in serious trouble.

"Congratulations Kakashi, another one of your students has demonstrated incredible skill and judgment, you should be very proud," The old man said as he gently laid his hands in his lap. His sister nodded her approval.

"She hasn't been my student for over twelve years, but yes, I am very proud of her," Kakashi retorted.

"As the law reads, she will always be you student. You do understand that, don't you?"

Kakashi furrowed his brow at the insinuation. He now knew why they had called him. After his father's suicide, the elders had assumed that he would follow a similar path of deviance. When he proclaimed that he agreed with his father's decision to save his comrades over completing a mission, even though it violated Konoha law, the elders had begun to look for reasons to make his life difficult.

"You see Kakashi," the old woman said, "if you allow a single crack to form in a wall, it won't be long before the entire structure comes crashing down."

His neural glare was beginning to fade, he was past the point of attempting to stay calm. "Why don't you just say it?" Kakashi barked.

The old man looked at his sister, then back at Kakashi, "what exactly are you referring to?"

"I know what you brought me here for. You're going to tell me not to fuck my former student."

They didn't move or attempt to speak as Kakashi stood up and walked towards the door without as much as a backwards glance.

"She will always be your student, and the law punishes fraternization between teachers and students severely," the man shouted as Kakashi reached for the door handle.

By severely, the elders had meant death. As usual, they expected the worst from him. "That sounded like a threat," he said.. "I hope that you have some kind of proof to support your accusations."

The sister scoffed indignantly, "you used to spend the night at her house. You don't honestly expect us to believe that two teenagers were literally just sleeping do you?"

"I used to sleep _at_ her house, not _with_ her," Kakashi clarified.

"You were in her bed every night."

"Which is not illegal. Any assumptions of misconduct are exactly that."

"You call this an assumption?" The man pulled and envelope out from under his robes and threw its contents on the floor. Even before the old black and while photos had slid across to him, he could see the incriminating pattern. Multiple images of them sleeping, and even more of them cooking meals and eating dinner together like a couple. One in particular caught his attention, a photo of him holding her while on her balcony the night that he showed her his Genjutsu.

Shock washed over him in waves as his eyes darted from image to image and he absorbed the overall message. There was nothing definitive in any of one them individually, but when taken as a collective whole, they didn't paint a very innocent picture.

The woman grinned, "the Sandaime was wrong to allow such a beast into this city, he then worsened the situation by putting you in charge of her. Honestly, we have no idea to what extent you two have carried on your little relationship, but know that it had all better stop immediately or you both will face the most sever punishment that we have the power to administer."

"Nothing has ever happened between her and I, and nothing ever will. So don't lie to me about your so called proof. There is only so much bullshit that I plan to take from you."

"Then stop trying to deceive us," the man replied. "Now leave before we have you thrown in the most disgusting prison cell we can find for the insolence you've shown here today."

Kakashi stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him, and left Hokage Tower in enraged silence. He tried to walk to the former Uchiha compound, where he imagined Riba would be staying, but struggled with every step. Memories brought forth by the plethora of images surfaced in sequence. Had he been presented with similar evidence about another pair of shinobi, even he wouldn't have believed that nothing indecent had happened.

He pulled the gift box from the pouch at his side and stared at its well polished surface. She would inevitably love it. He imagined her put on the gloves and hitae-ate instantly and thanking him profusely, then asking him how his day had went. She always asked him how his day had went. And what would he tell her? That the eldes want to kill him? That they've spent years looking for a reason to kill him? That they'd spied and hand picked bits and pieces of an otherwise harmless relationship and compiled it in such a way as to frame them?

He squeezed the box until the sound of a small crack made him loosened his grip. He began to plan a way around the photos; an airtight defense. There was nothing concrete in the photos, nothing that would warrant a death sentence. For such a severe punishment they would need explicit proof.

But then there were all the other angles they could attack them from. He had told her the details of the majority of his top secret missions during her training and had put her under an extremely dangerous Genjutsu. He had given her the secret of the Fourth Hokages time-space teleportation and almost ruptured her spleen in combat. He was so young back then and had done so many inappropriate things that the elders had yet to discover.

Inevitably, someday they would bring them in for interrogation. He weighed his options and considered forming a complex lie with Riba that they could use to pacify the interrogators, but even that was dangerous. The interrogators would wear them down; beat them until they began to slip up or find a gap in the story that they would have to cover for on the spot. And if they didn't happen to create matching lies? Well that would be the end wouldn't it

Maybe it was better to say nothing at all. The burden was on the elders to build a case, and saying nothing would give them nothing to work with. He had to make a decision either enlist her in a lie or say nothing to anyone and hope for the best.

He held his breath and strengthened his resolve. Telling her would just make the situation even more complex, and therefore more risky. He would shoulder the burden of the elders on his own.

"Hey Kakashi! Guess what?"

He looked up to see Genma running towards him, smiling and waving. Kakashi sighed in annoyance, "what?"

"One of your students went to the ANBU headquarters to register for the upcoming exams. Wow man, you really turn out some quality shinobi!"

"Naruto is already ANBU. You mean Sakura?"

"Yeah, and Riba is going with her. They will probably get to take exams together."

He paused, "Genma, do the ANBU exams still have that weird interrogation phase where they torture you until you answer every question that the elders submit?"

"Um yeah. I think so."


	4. Ferocious Five

Disclaimer: A very wealthy man owns Naruto. I am neither wealthy nor a man.

Japanese Translation:

Shian: the color cyan. Also means tentative.

Kunoichi: a female shinobi (ninja)

Bijuu: a powerful creature, like the one Naruto has sealed inside of him. There are nine in total.

…

Kakashi sat in the shade of a red Konoha maple and looked carefully around training ground two before reaching inside his flack jacket and pulling out the report that he had borrowed from ANBU headquarters, and would have to return before the ANBU security guard's next shift change. He sighed as he realized that he had promised himself twelve years ago that he would never spy on Riba again. Yet here he was, holding her ANBU entrance examination final report.

He stared at the report sitting neatly in his lap. The only information that the cover revealed was that she had completed the exam two days ago, and that it was classified.

He breathed in hard as he struggled against his conscience, debating whether keeping his meeting with the elders a secret from her had been a bad idea. She could have told them everything. The exam always had a few "what if" questions. What if you were ordered to assassinate the Hokage? What if your mission required you to kill a child? What if you lusted after your teacher? He winced at the thought, and slowly opened the cover of the report, prepared to meet his fate.

…

"She didn't talk. Didn't say a damn word."

Genma's story had attracted the attention of more than a few Jounin at the The Little Boxer, and the resulting crowed was hanging on his every word. Kakashi sat listening in amazement. Not because of the story, which he had discovered for himself a few months ago, but that the supposedly classified report had apparently leaked into the Jounin community and was now the most popular topic of discussion.

Through all the beatings and mental torture the ANBU examiners had administered, Riba had remained perfectly silent. Even Kakashi had groaned in pain a couple times when he had taken the exam. After a long discussion with her, he was surprised to learn that the Shadow assassins of Uindo had a similar, but much more brutal, version of the exam. Each Shadow, had to endure three days of physical torture that included having various organs removed while the examinee was awake and forced to watch. Apparently, the medics in Uindo were also outstanding, as they were responsible for re-assembling the examinee and keeping the majority of them alive throughout the interrogation. Torture, it seems, was no longer a factor to her.

Genma's drink sloshed onto the table as he reached for his glass. Ignoring the mess, he continued, "so the day after she passed, she went to the ANBU high commanders and requested that she be allowed to form her own specialized team. Of course, the commanders told her to go to hell, but she insisted that they bring her proposal before the Hokage. And the they actually did it! That woman must have some crazy persuasive powers to make those hard ass old men bend to her will like that. Anyway, the Hokage received her proposal and approved it on the spot. I'll tell you right now, I think there is some underhanded shit going on behind the scenes in Hokage tower…"

Kakashi grabbed a glass and poured himself a drink from Genma's sake bottle, "it's probably not as underhanded as you think. I would assume that this is all a part of Riba's deal with the Hokage, in trade for the Akatsuki rings."

"Yeah, then why do they have custom ANBU uniforms? Are you saying that was a part of the deal too?"

Just as Kakashi was about to answer, a hand emerged from the crowd and slapped Genma's face with vicious force, and a very perturbed Ino sat down beside him, "just what the hell is wrong with you? You said you would walk me home two hours ago!"

Genma shifted uncomfortably, "don't worry your little blond head about it darling. Kakashi asked me to tell him all about the Ferocious Five. I thought it would be a quick story, but you know how he can draw these things out."

"They're not custom uniforms you idiot. All ANBU assassins wear black uniforms for camouflage. Most of their assassinations take place at night, so it makes sense," Ino clarified.

"I was talking about their masks."

"What is so special about their masks?" Kakashi interjected.

"Black cat masks. Oh, and they have a little swirl design on the left side of the forehead that looks a like the Riba's chakra tattoos."

"Do you know who she selected for her team?"

"Yeah, I saw them leaving ANBU headquarters: Anko, Kurenai, Shian, and Sakura."

"Wait, who the hell is Shian?" Genma stammered.

"How should I know? Do I look like an information booth?"

"No, but the lighting in this bar does make you look a bit like a gossip booth, but only when you turn your head towards a crowd…"

Ino promptly stood and smacked Genma yet again, "If you want to know so badly then ask them yourself. They're coming back from an undercover hooker mission, and Sakura said she would stop by and see me before she went home."

"Like prostitution hookers?" Genma snickered.

"Yes, prostitution hookers, what other kinds are there?"

Kakashi brought his sake glass to his lips while using his hand to cover the portion of his face that would have otherwise been exposed. He shivered at the images he unintentionally conjured of every low life he had ever known touching Riba in unspeakable places. He waved at the nearest barmaid, "excuse me, could you please bring me a drink, or five, of your strongest liquor?"

"Bring this man whatever he wants and put it on my tab," Genma interrupted. "So, how much sake will it take for me to get you to tell me what I probably already know?"

"That depends on what you think you know."

"Maybe something about that sexy little Uchiha animal that mysteriously seems to have been trained in Konoha."

"You know as much about her as I do."

"Don't bullshit me Kakashi. I heard that you two used to spend a lot of quality time together..."

"If I had, then it would have been strictly business related...and classified."

Genma grinned darkly, "If all she is to you is business, then I'm sure you won't mind if I conduct a little business with her myself." He lazily pointed across the room as four luxuriously dressed women walk towards them. The ladies, who were normally dressed for efficiency, were draped in kimonos far too elegant and complex for their surrounding. The long silk dresses glimmered under the faint lights as they moved, reflecting their bold colors onto various dull surfaces around the bar.

"What pretty little geisha outfits you all have! And I thought that you were all posing as common hookers," Genma teased.

Anko took a seat as Ino gave Sakura a warm hug, and Kurenai and Shian waved hello to everyone.

Genma grinned, "so then what exactly did you ladies do?"

Anko snatched Genma's sake bottle with a single abrasive jerk that appeared awkwardly uncharacteristic of a woman dressed so delicately, "wait until Riba gets here and I'll tell you," she snapped.

Kakashi groaned in annoyance. He was in no mood to hear about whatever erotic actions Riba may or may not have taken. Those types of missions had always irked him. He had no quarrel with their effectiveness, but was opposed to throwing Konoha's most beautiful, intelligent, and kindest, women into the dredges of a village's red light district on the off chance that one of the disgustingly rich patrons had valuable intelligence. It all seemed like a great deal of debauchery for a little reward.

He stood up and moved away from the crowd, ignoring their confused glares, and walked towards the hallway that lead to the bar's back entrance. Over the years, the inexpensive bulbs inside the dilapidated light fixtures had periodically burned out. Though multiple customers had reported the safety code violation, no one had bothered to replace them.

The old floor boards creaked and groaned under his feet as he slowly grudged forward with his hand against the wall to guide him. Eventually he felt his foot hit what he assume to be the door to the back entrance. He ran his hands along its rough unpolished surface, searching for the handle.

"Kakashi?"

He looked over his shoulder and saw Riba leaning nonchalantly against the wall at the end of the hallway. Her forest green kimono was very tight and slightly shear, designed and tailored for optimal pleasure. Decritive senbons held her intricately styled hair in a tight bun and her makeup accentuated her smoldering golden eyes. The ANBU had apparently spared no expense in transforming her into an outlet for her target's fantasies.

"You look dangerous tonight," he said with a defiant smile.

She chuckled darkly, "I feel dangerous tonight."

She began to walk towards him, disappearing into the darkness of the hallway. He listened as the sound of creaking floor boards intensified with her approach.

"So you can see in the dark," he mused

"That's ridicules, why would I have night vision?"

"Most predators do."

"Touché Kakashi, but still incorrect."

"Then how did you know where I was?"

"I may lack the precision of the Byakugan, but I still have enough Hyuuga blood to see chakra. You have traces of white, a Hatake family trait I assume."

"Something like that."

He felt a hand slide around him from behind, grab the front of his flack jacket and turn him around, firmly pushing his back against the door.

"Riba, this isn't a good idea."

"Then stop me." She slowly unzipped his jacket and slide inside, wrapping her arms around his waist and rubbing his back softly. Her eyelashes brushed against his cheek as she kissed along the perimeter of his mask and down to his fabric covered lips.

Somehow, her well constructed appearance, combined with his high regard for her and their past, overrode the elder's threats. At first he wondered if he was capable of resisting, but as he took in the clean scent of her perfume and felt her hands drift under his shirt, he felt his resolve weaken and responded by surrendering his thoughts to her seduction.

He pulled the cloth away from his face and down to his neck, letting the darkness be his mask. The boards creaked under her shifting weight as he grabbed her shoulders and held her back just far enough so that their lips barely touched. He was living the fantasies he'd repressed as a teenager, and had every intention of enjoying them slowly.

Gradually he released his grip and let her lips slid against his, savoring the soft wet contact, before getting rough. He grabbed her hip with one hand, pulling her tightly against his waist in a single sharp movement, and squeezed the outside of her thigh with the other.

The fabric of her dress sat high up her shoulder, leaving him to pull it aside with his teeth so he could bite her neck and lick the swollen skin.

He absorbed the excitement and arousal that he knew couldn't last or be repeated. He kissed her with rugged passion, until he heard movement at the end of the hallway. They released each other, her out of decorum and him out of concern that the people roaming around worked for the elders.

"Come back to the table, everyone was looking for you," she said calmly.

He followed her back into the bar without question, consumed with analyzing how quickly he had lost his self control. He'd always had a problem with lust. Maybe it was all the Icha Icha he read, or an unconscious rejection of the strict rules enforced upon his life. Regardless, he knew that he would do it again in a second if the situation presented itself. The trick would therefore be keeping himself away from the situation.

As a child she had always seemed too calm to be seductively passionate, but apparently as an adult she was a specialist.

Riba pushed through the crowd and took a seat between Anko and a very embarrassed looking Kurenai. Kakashi sat down next to Genma and continued to look around the room nonchalantly, praying that his customary lazy expression would mask the tension in his body.

Anko laughed loudly as she reveled in Kurenai's discomfort, "ah Riba, I am so glad that you're back. I'm very sorry, but just couldn't wait, so I began the story without you."

"What story are you referring to?" Riba asked absently.

"You know, the one about how our targets on this last mission wanted to watch..."

"I don't think that the captain wants to discuss it right now," Kurenai snapped.

"Why not? It's a very exciting story. What with the head geisha telling the targets that you and Riba are desperately in love, and them requesting a private show so that they could watch you two pleasure..."

"Shut up Anko! I'm serious!" Kurenai pounded her fist against the table as Anko began to laugh hysterically and the crowd gasped and whispered.

"Anko is right, it's a great story. Hell, if I were to die today, I would want that to be my last thought," Genma purred.

Kurenai gave Riba a pleading glance as Riba placed a warm hand gently on her shoulder, "you shouldn't feel ashamed. We used the opportunity that was presented to isolate our targets and eliminate them in the safest and most efficient way possible. Our mission was a complete success, so you might as well admit it."

"You're right, I admit it. I'm very proud of us," Kurenai said with a newly found smile.

"No Kurenai dear, I mean that you might as well admit that I am the best you've ever had..."

The crowd erupted in laughter as Kakashi groaned and ordered another bottle of strong sake to drowned himself in.


	5. A Toast to Intoxication

Disclaimer: I own Uindo not Naruto.

...

He pulled the blankets over his head to escape the sunlight that was penetrating his eyelids and worsening his throbbing headache. Staying in bed all day was starting to look like a good idea as he began to enjoy the warmth of the blankets wrapped around him. They smelled better then usual and he found the scent to be very relaxing. For the first time since the previous night, he felt the tension in his body melt away.

He slowly opened his eyes and saw a bookcase sitting in front of him. His vision was beginning to acclimate to the sunlight pouring in from the window above, so he could barely make out the silhouette of his flack jacket and the rest of his clothing resting neatly on the case's surface next to a dark-colored object. He crawled off of the futon, still wrapped in the blankets, and went to have a better look.

The object was an ANBU mask. It's catlike shape and white accents on the nose, mouth, and around the eyes holes were reminiscent a conversation he vaguely remembered from the night before. He suddenly felt a bit unsteady and tripped forward, dropping the mask and grabbing his forehead. The feel of soft cloth against his face reassured him that at least he hadn't been drunk enough to take that off as well.

Through his fingers, he could see the mask lying on the polished wooden floor. He reached down and picked it up with both hands, inspecting its smooth surface for damage. He looked around the room at all the furniture he recognized as belonging to Riba. The bookcases, futon, and sword stand looked just as it did in their youth.

"Do you like the mask?"

The sound of Riba's stoic voice made him jump. She was standing in the doorway wearing her usual black Uchiha jumpsuit, stockings, and boots. In addition, Kakashi noticed that she was wearing the gloves he had bought her and had the matching hitae-ate tied around her left thigh. It was apparent that she had been up for a while, and didn't seem to be hungover.

He wasn't as disgusted with the idea that his former student had taken advantage of his drunkenness as he would have thought. Somehow, he didn't feel violated. As if he subconsciously knew it was going to happen eventually, and all she had done was speed up the process.

The though was quickly replaced by images of the elders throwing incriminating photographs at him flashed before his eyes. He immediately looked out the window, scanning the area for the hiding places that the elders' spies could be using.

"Are you alright Kakashi?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just trying to take in what happened last night. So...does anyone besides the two of us know?"

"I think everyone in the bar knows," she said definitively. "You don't look well, maybe we should lie back down."

"No!...I mean, I'm fine, thank you."

"Getting too old to sleep with me? Or are you afraid that you're old enough now to enjoy it?"

"A bit of both I suppose," he said with false calm. "I think that we should talk..."

"About what exactly?"

"About last night."

"What about last night?"

_About the fact that we fucked and now are about to die? _"About our conduct."

The morning sun bathed the room in a gentle orange glow that stood in stark contrast to his mood. If it was going to happen, it should have been planned, hidden, done out of the country and away from prying eyes...

He shook his head in disgust. He knew better than to let his thoughts go there. It shouldn't have happened at all, anywhere and under any circumstances, let alone in a place that he knew they were being watched.

She chuckled, "you got pretty drunk last night, so I volunteered to take you home. Unfortunately, once we left I realized that I don't actually know where you live, so I brought you back to my house instead...By they way, nothing intimate happened if that's what your silently contemplating."

"Then why am I naked and wrapped in your blanket? I'm very interested in how this could have happened without intimacy."

"Genma accidentally spilled his drink on you, so I thought it wise to take it off your cloths so you wouldn't have to sleep in liquor." She turned to leave to room, "I'm going outside to continue my morning training like I was before I heard you drop my precious mask on the floor."

As he heard her walk down the stairs and leave he began to feel sightly dejected. He had already accepted that they had sex and had begun to rationalize and plan how to handle the consequences. In a strange way, he felt cheated.

He threw her blanket back onto her futon and put on his cloths before walking out onto her balcony, stuffing his hitae-ate into his jacket pocket. The ground was covered in small chalk circles, like the ones she had used as a teenager. She preformed her fluid Taijutsu with precision and grace, and had improved immensely since they were young.

He jumped off the balcony and hit the ground with an unconcealed thud, "still playing with your useless dots I see."

She paused and looked over her shoulder, her stoic glance denying him the pleasure of her irritation, "something like that."

"You know, it has been a while since we last spared. Think you could handle a few rounds?"

"Think you can handle my circles?"

Without uttering another word, he walked onto the training ground and carefully placed each foot within a circle, smiling sarcastically, "I am afraid that you would never survive an actual shinobi mission. Your skills are both extraordinary and limited. Defeat me now or I will fail you and leave you to wallow in your little shit hole of a house in disgrace."

Her brow furrowed, giving him the irritated response he'd been after. She ran forward at a blinding speed and he followed. Without his hitae-ate his Sharingan was exposed, allowing him to anticipate her movements. The moment that she moved within range, he attempted to punch her in the stomach.

This time she was ready, having learned from her near death experience at his hands fifteen years ago that he liked to aim below the belt. Just as his hand was about to connect with her body, she rolled her hips, causing him to miss by mere inches. Almost instantly, he used his other hand to grab her shoulder and push forward with all his strength, sending them both tumbling to the ground. He landed on top of her prone body and used the opportunity to pin her hand as feet. She struggled briefly, but was unable to get the leverage needed to throw him off.

For a moment he was quite pleased with himself for having immobilized her so quickly, but as she began to shift against his body, the implications of their position began to sink in. He looked around the abandon compound, looked for the ever-present eyes of the elder's scouts. This was exactly the situation he had hoped to avoid, yet the instinctual nature of combat hadn't allowed him the time to consider the repercussions before he attacked. He would have to get this over with quickly, before another photo was added to the elder's collection.

He lowered his head within an inch of her ear and whispered, "feels terribly venerable doesn't it?"

"You cheated," she hissed.

"Damn straight I did, just as your enemies would have. You've been on S-rank missions before, so you really should have known better."

"You stepped outside of the circles. Though technically I would be dead, you still lose."

"My feet are being held up by your shins, so technically I haven't stepped anywhere."

The irritation faded from her face as she calmed down turned her head towards him. She smirked in a light spirited way that suggested that she was impressed with his ingenuity, and gently brushed her cheek against his. He could feel her eyelashes against his face like the night before, only this time he knew what was coming. The situation had instantly turned risky and he promptly decided to let her up. He looked around and decided which circles would be the easiest to reach, but as he began to shift his weight on top of her, she bit down on the upper edge of his mask with unrelenting force and began to pull the fabric away from his face. He could feel his body tense as the cool air seeped onto his newly unexposed skin, and he began to panic as his irrational fear rushed to the surface. He quickly released her and tried to pull away. To his surprise, she instantly released him.

He stood up and backed away as she jumped to her feet with a grin, "you're standing outside of the circles Kakashi."

"You cheated Riba."

"Damn straight I did, just as your enemies would have. You haven't allowed anyone to see your face for a long time have you? I am willing to bet that no one who is alive today has seen it."

"You've come closer than anyone in the past few decades."

"It felt terribly venerable didn't it?"

"Something like that," he said indignantly.

"You know, I'm never going to let you get away with that again. I am beginning to get wise to your old cheap tricks."

"By the next time we spar, I plan to have entirely new cheap tricks to try on you."

"Then can I assume that we are finished sparing for now, or at least until after breakfast?"

"You're going to cook for me? How sweet..."

"I am not going to cook a damn thing for you. Kurenai invited my team along with you and Genma over for breakfast this morning. You do remember, don't you?"

…

Kurenai and Sakura cooked a wonderful breakfast, served on a clean kitchen table in a warm home. His former student had proven, as always, to be a refreshingly challenging sparring as far as he knew, he wasn't yet in danger of execution.

He stood at the window, a glass of orange juice in his hand, looking out over the quiet city. Kurenai hadn't lied about the view, he could clearly see Riba's roof top from her living room. Everyone besides Riba and Kakashi sat comfortably around Kurenai's kitchen table engaging in typical shinobi discussions of past missions and exams. He was surprised to hear that Kurenai had attributed much of her successes in life to the training that she had received from Riba as a teenager.

Riba sighed gently, "you would have passed eventually anyway, I just sped the process along a bit."

"Regardless, I'm very thankful."

"You appreciate my help now, but you may change your mind after you see what I have planed for our next training session."

Genma alone began to laugh, leaving everyone else to wonder what joke they had missed, "exactly what kind of training are you two planning? I hear that you two perform amazingly well in front of an audience. I would be happy to offer my services..."

His reference to the geisha mission instantly embarrassed Kurenai. Riba however, was unfazed, "do you have any idea what we did to our targets after we isolated them from their guards? When they were all alone with us in a quiet secluded room?"

"Would the pleasure be worth the pain of finding out?"

"That all depends on how much you value your tongue. We were in a rather quiet establishment, so we wouldn't want anyone screaming for help now would we?"

The orally fixated shinobi's mouth dropped in surprise, causing his senbon to fall to the table. Everyone else erupted in laughter. Not one to be out done, he quickly recovered and picked up his senbon, "if you knew what I could do with my tongue, you would change your mind," he said seductively.

Anko snarled, "leave the captain alone."

"Do you want to smack the shit out of him or should I?" Sakura said with a threatening smile.

"Feel free to handle the situation."

Kakashi watched as Shian rose from her seat and glided across the room to where Riba was standing. After only speaking to her for a minute, Kakashi was able to see why Riba had chosen the young ANBU to be on her team. Shian was not much older than Sakura, yet possessed maturity beyond her years. She was quiet, tentative, and always calm. As a bonus, she was a powerhouse of water based ninjutsu. As this was a weak point for Riba, it was to her advantage to include the dedicated water expert on her roster.

She pulled her long black hair away from her face, letting it fall to the side, and gently tapped Riba's shoulder, "you've been staring at the wall for a long time."

Riba held up a well crafted blade that she had recently removed from a nearby display stand, "Kurenai, where did you get?"

Kakashi turned from his place at the window to get a better look at the object that had captivated Riba's attention. He immediately recognized it as belonging to his deceased friend Asuma.

Kurenai winced, "it belonged to my husband, and he was the last person ever to hold it..."

"How ridiculously untrue," She said dryly. "It had to get from his dead body to the stand somehow. I wonder where he acquired such a unique item. From a dead enemy perhaps?"

The more she fiddled with the blade, the more uneasy Kurenai became, "um, I think he said that he had them specially made."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure."

Riba returned the blade carefully to its stand and stared at Kurenai, as if she was debating whether to speak. The intensity in her golden eyes was unwavering, "listen, there are very few places in the world where chakra conducting metal is produced. If Asuma got the blades off a dead body somewhere, then this conversation is over. However, if you're sure that he had them custom-made, I think you and I have something that we need to discuss."

"Yes, I'm sure he said that they were custom-made."

"What was your husband's name?"

"Sarutobi Asuma."

"That's your son's name as well. Can I assume your husband was the father of your child?"

"Yes, of course."

"Does your son look similar to his father?"

"Yes, extremely. With the exception of his red eyes of course, which he inherited from me."

"In that case, I believe that I knew your husband. Furthermore, there may be a small chance that I can bring him back to life."


	6. Consuming Darkness

Disclaimer: The closest I will ever get to owning Naruto is buying a Kakashi action figure.

Please see the link in my profile for a map of the Naruto universe that shows the location of the Dark Wind country. This chapter will make much more sense if you understand the geography of the Naruto universe, so I urge you to visit the map before you read the chapter.

…

Immediately after Riba revealed her knowledge of Asuma, she began spending the majority of her time in an old store-room in the basement of Hokage tower, studying a mysterious topic that she refused to speak of. Tsunade alone was allowed entrance into the room while she was working and no exceptions were made. When Riba failed to resurface, the rest of the members of the Ferocious Five began to worry and petitioned the Hokage to tell them of her status. After another week of silent secrecy, Tsunade reported that Riba had been consumed with her newest Jutsu and was ready to present her creation.

Anko, Shian, Sakura, Kurenai, Asuma Jr, Kakashi and Genma were called to Hokage tower the next day to meet with Tsunade about a new mission. Ibiki and Tsunade held the meeting in the basement, outside the room Riba had all but lived in for almost a month. Not surprisingly, Riba was also present to greet them and was anxious to begin the briefing.

"Good evening everyone, I'm glad to see that you have all accepted the mission."

"It's not evening; it's ten in the morning."

Riba scanned the tightly packed group that had squeezed into the small hallway, "who just spoke? It sounded like you Genma."

"That's because it was me."

"That's nice. Do you have any other irrelevant shit that you would like to discuss?"

Anko quickly smacked Genma in the back of the head and whispered, "she's been working nonstop for weeks, leave her the hell alone."

"They're still lacking a few details about the mission, how about we discuss that instead," Tsunade intervened.

Riba appeared puzzled, "such as?"

"Everything," Kakashi responded from behind Genma.

She cleared her throat, "the mission is to resurrect Kurenai's husband, Sarutobi Asuma."

"You can do that?" Genma asked in awe.

"I can't resurrect the dead, however, the people of my country can."

"Come on, resurrecting the dead seems a bit far-fetched..."

"A surprising statement from someone who has witnessed it once before."

He chuckled nervously, "I don't remember ever having seen a resurrection, and that isn't something one usually forgets."

"You were present for Orochimaru's historic attack on Konoha during the Chuunin exams. If you recall, Orochimaru summoned the souls of the first and second Hokages to aid him in battle."

"Yea, but he put the souls of the Hokage's in other people's bodies, that's not the same as resurrecting someone."

"Why isn't it? My people have the ability to recall registered souls back to this world and implant them into surgically prepared bodies. Therefore, they are effectively resurrected."

"See, when you said that people in Uindo could resurrect the dead, I kind of assumed that they would be themselves again," he clarified.

"They do become themselves again."

"No, I mean physically themselves. They would look like they did before they died because they would be in their old bodies."

"Like I said, we surgically prepare the bodies. We like to use the soul's original body if possible, but if body is badly damaged or has long since decayed, we use an alternate body instead. We select corpses of the same weight and build and surgically alter them so they are indistinguishable in appearance."

"Then how did Orochimaru know about the resurrection techniques of your people? I had assumed that he had discovered Edo Tensei resurrection himself, but you seem to suggest that the people of Uindo taught it to him," Tsunade interrupted.

"I'm not completely sure how he managed to learn of our techniques, but I have my suspicions. Years ago during an invasion of the Dark Wind country, a child was kidnapped and taken to what is now the Sound country. All attempts to find him failed. However, a few years later we were informed that the child had survived the kidnapping and had been adopted by a Jounin of Konoha. As a preteen, he was allowed to return to Uindo to study at our Medical Academy. Our medics not only perform general surgeries, but also prepare bodies for resurrection, so it's possible that the boy learned about the resurrections while in school. Since the boy is the only medic to have ever left Uindo, I am pretty sure that Orochimaru learned how to resurrect from him."

"Riba, is there a chance that someone from an ally of Uindo could request a resurrection?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm afraid not. Only registered Uindo citizens can be resurrected, with the exception of Asuma who is the one of the few outsiders to attend our Shadow University in recent history. That's why I remember him so well, he is the only outsider I have ever heard of that went through the blood registration ceremony that's required for resurrection."

"Then how was Orochimaru able to resurrect the first and second Hokages? They weren't registered were they?" Tsunade asked.

"No, they weren't. Orochimaru's Edo Tensei differs from Uindo's Shadow Resurrection. Somehow he managed to adapt our techniques to resurrect non registered souls and put them into surgically unaltered bodies. Honestly, I have no idea how he does it."

Kakashi instantly became depressed. For a moment he had entertained the possibility that Obito could be resurrected. Life would have been much easier with him around to keep company and grant advice. His internal sulking was quickly interrupted by the shrieking sound of four year old Asuma Jr, who was very excited about the prospect of meeting his father, "miss Uchiha! If I go get you a body, can you bring my daddy back?"

Kurenai seemed embarrassed at Asuma Jr's bluntness, but Riba just chuckled, "that will not be necessary. The Shadow Assassins are very expensive to hire, but in exchange, offer a guarantee of perfect service. We provide our clients with the choice of having the bodies of their selected targets: delivered to client, placed in such a way as to frame another for the murder, or disposed of. If a client requests the latter option, then the victim's body is taken to the Dark Wind country and stored in case the resurrection of a Uindo citizen is required. Now, are there any other questions?"

Genma sighed, "then why are we here? It sounds like you and Kurenai could handle this by yourselves."

Ibiki huffed in irritation, "because the seven of you are the only people, besides Tsunade and Riba, that know what Riba has been working on. We don't need everyone in Konoha mistakenly thinking they can have anyone they want resurrected. Pandemonium would ensue from the sheer number of requests alone. If her Jutsu fails and you all die, then at least it will save us the time of having to eliminate witnesses and fabricate explanations. God knows what we will do if by some small chance you succeed and we have to explain why the previously deceased Asuma is walking around town."

Riba quickly interjected, "also, once we arrive in Uindo, Kurenai will have to petition the Uindo High Counsel for a right of Shadow Resurrection. Seven other people will be required to testify about why Asuma should be considered as a candidate. It's a written petition, so all you have to do is sign a document, but it must be done in the presence of the council."

Genma became tense, "can we go back to the part about the Jutsu can cause us all to die?"

"We well need a suitable form of transportation to make it to and from Uindo. The land of the Dark Winds resides between the Sound and the Cloud territories. I'm afraid that six Konoha Jounin, a child, and a bijuu travelling across Sound land would provoke a violent response, thus I have found us a suitable alternative," Riba clarified.

Tsunade opened the door behind her and motioned everyone inside. All that existed within the grey stone walls was a large black circle on the ground surrounded by six smaller circles. Each of the smaller circles had a line connecting them to the larger one.

Kakashi gently tapped Riba's shoulder, "what is all of this?"

"It's required for my new form of Hiraishin no Jutsu."

"Hiraishin no Jutsu? So you are planning to teleport us to Uindo?"

"That's the plan."

"Then exactly how does you plan factor in teleporting seven other people? From the time that the Fourth Hokage invented the Jutsu, he was never able to transport anything other than himself."

"That's not true. He transported himself, his cloths, and his weapons. Believe me, if the Jutsu only allow for the teleportation of a person's physical body then I would be constantly showing up to the bar naked, and you would have noticed that by now."

"That's true. I have noticed that you arrive from your teleportation with your clothing and gear, however, we are not a set of Uchiha jumpsuits."

"That's what the circles are for."

"I know what these circles are for. You're going to do a little dance for us like when you train. I think that dancing us to Uindo is a better idea then this teleportation crap you want us to agree to," Anko mocked.

Riba sighed, "the circles are made of the same ink as my tattoos and have extraordinary conductive properties. They can store and transport chakra with amazing accuracy. I plan to use the ink to guide my chakra to your bodies. Once you are all connected to me, I should be able to teleport all of use to Uindo. I sent a tag to mark the destination. It should help me guide us to the chamber that the council has prepared for our reception..."

Genma coughed audibly, "I would just like to go on record to say that I think that this is a very bad idea."

"It doesn't matter what you think, the eight of you going so stop bitching and go stand in your god damn circles," Ibiki commanded.

The Ferocious Five, Asuma Jr, Kakashi, and Genma waked towards the circles in silence as Tsunade locked the chamber door. She smiled comfortingly, "have faith in Riba. She has been testing the Jutsu out on stray cats and dogs all week and she hasn't had a single mishap. I would never let her attempt her Jutsu on my best Jounin if I wasn't sure that she had perfected it."

Genma grinned sarcastically, "and If I was a dog that might mean something."

"Genma, you are a dog, so shut the hell up and stand in a circle," Anko snapped.

Ignoring the banter of her team, Riba walked over to the center circle and sat down within its perimeter, "Kurenai, please pick up little Asuma. His chakra is similar enough to yours that it will take less concentration for me to transport the two of you as a whole than if you were separated."

Kurenai swept her son up into her arms as Riba closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She raised her hand and began performing an intricate set of seals, many of which Kakashi had never seen before. As he watched her concentrate, he realized that these could be his last moments; that he may disappear and never return. He tried to speak, but no sound came out. His breath was sucked away as an intense cold infiltrated his body. Something foreign was seeping into his legs and crawling up his torso from the inside. The temperature was so extreme that he was unable to move other than to grab his legs in an attempt to delay the pain. It was deep inside him, and was slowly making its way towards his brain.

His vision gradually became too blurry to see anything but a dark grey mist where the room used to be. This was the darkness that she had always told him lived inside of her, yet refused to describe in anything but the vaguest terms.

The room seemed to melt away as her chakra consumed him.


	7. Uindo

Disclaimer: At the current time, I do not own Naruto.

Japanese Translation:

Jinchuuriki: A person that has a bijuu sealed inside of them, like Naruto. This isn't the same as Riba however, who was actually transformed into a beast as opposed to merely having one sealed within her.

…

It happened so suddenly that the change made him feel rather nauseous. He was thrown onto a cold floor that chilled him to the bone, and the scent of wet stone invaded his senses. He opened his eyes slowly to see the silhouettes of his friends lying unconscious on the floor, and rested his back against the wall, slowly scanning the room for Riba's body. Not surprisingly, she was nowhere to be found. The others, however, were just beginning to awaken. He stood and nonchalantly walked over to the large metal door that served as the only entrance and exit to the room. A loud metallic sound reverberated off the walls as he gently knocked on its surface. The response it elicited was almost immediate, the door swung open.

He peered outside, no one seemed to be around so he stepped out into a long hallway and over to the wall in front of him. The stone wall was polished, and glimmered in the small amount of light that emanated from a nearby lantern hanging from the ceiling. It appeared to be old but well cared for and preserved, the sign of a wealthy society.

He turned with every intention of reentering the room and rousing his friends, but was quickly halted by a large form that materialized no more than a foot in front of him. The man was dressed entirely in black and wore a mask that covered his entire head. Though Kakashi was unable to see the his face, he could feel his eyes looking down at him.

There was a rustling sound coming from inside the room. One by one, everyone was being lead out the door by masked guards that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Lacking the strength to resist after the traumatizing trip, Kakashi conceded to allowing the guard to grab him by the arm and lead him down the winding hallway. The guards moved gracefully despite dragging another person beside them. This kind of behavior was all too familiar to Kakashi who had watched Riba move the same way for years. The possibility that she was less of a singularly talented shinobi, and more of a product of elite training was a revelation.

He was so dazed that he didn't notice that they were approaching the end of the hallway. In an instant a heavy door opened and the group was dragged outside onto what appeared to be the roof of a large building. The group was silently dragged to the edge, where giant metal poles jetted out from the stone that comprised the entire ten story building. It was polished to a high sheen and shone bright in the sunlight, the glare was blinding.

As his eyes began to acclimate, he looked out over the Dark Wind's capital city of Uindo. He had never given much thought about what Uindo would look like, an error in judgement that greatly contributed to the shock he felt upon seeing it for the first time.

The city resided on top of a colossal mountain. From where he was standing he could see that most of the mountain's peak had been removed, creating a plateau of sorts. The only part that still remained was the far end, which reached hundreds of feet into the sky. It was impossible to tell how high up they were, as a seemingly unending layer of clouds a hundred feet or so below the level of the city completely obstructed the view of the ground at the foot of the mountain. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the peak seemed to have a large building carved into its side. It looked more regal than the thousands of buildings that resided upon the plateau below it, which was impressive considering that all the buildings appeared to be both well crafted and maintained. He could instantly see why the country was referred to as the Dark Wind, as the city seemed devoid of colors other than various shades of stone gray, giving it an ominous presence.

A loud screech quickly drew his attention upwards where he was surprised to see hundreds of giant black birds soared through the sky, many of which carried two or three people on their backs. The birds travelled to and from the peaks of near by mountains which had turrets carved into their sides and sentry guards patrolling. It appeared that they were on the farthest edge of the mountain. He turned to inspect the drop off, only to see a large number of people materializing behind him. Riba was at the front and her appearance was unprecedented.

Her attire was noble. A black dress tailored to fit close to her body made her seem elite. The women in the crowd were dressed in a similar way, though unlike her, the they all had either black, grey, or white hair. Each carried a bow and quiver of arrows and appeared to be the same type of guards that could be seen on the turrets on the surrounding mountain peaks. Their arms and backs were adorned with black tattoos, each set unique to the bearer.

Riba smiled and waved to the guards to bring the group over to the opposite side of the roof, where the building met the mountain's edge. As the guard that was still holding Kakashi's arm began to move forward, Riba signaled him to stop. Everyone else was taken over to a small team of medics for inspection. She spoke to the guard in a strange foreign language, and the guard responded by releasing Kakashi and disintegrating into the air.

"Well, what do you think of my country?" She asked?

"It seems to be amazingly complex, though, I wonder how you're able to eat." Kakashi said as he struggled to get his bearings.

"The same way as you do of course."

He grimaced, "You know what I mean. I don't see where you could get a renewable source of food on the top of a mountain."

She motioned toward the remains of the mountain's peak that sat at the far end of the plateau, "you can't tell from this vantage point, but this mountain is…." She fell silent, lost in thought.

"Is what?"

"I don't know how to say it in your language."

"That's unusual. I thought that you spoke it fluently."

"I've never had to use this word outside of the Uindo, so I don't know how to translate it. It describes the state of the mountain."

"Can you explain it?"

"The mountain is hollow inside. The plateau that you see here today was created by my people many centuries ago. Before it was terraformed, the mountain had a hole in its peak that extended down into the caverns below. You can't see it from this vantage, but a part of the original hole still exists. Rain water flows in and is transported to aquifers in the mountain's lower levels. Sunlight shines through and reflects off the polished stone walls to feed the farms that exist not far below."

"So part of the city exists inside the mountain?"

"Most of the city actually, beside the farms there are manufactured lakes that serve as fish hatcheries, schools, temples, hospitals, forges, mines, and of course our capital building, a part of which you can see from the outside."

"Ah, I was wondering what that building was for."

"There are many things in this city that you may find intriguing."

She turned and walked toward one of the mask guards and instantly resumed speaking in her native tongue. He turned her words over in his head, wondering what secrets Uindo held, and was so consumed in thought that he almost failed to notice that Riba was walking towards the edge of the building. This was of little concern until he realized that she was not going to stop, and gracefully leaped off the roof.

It happened so fast that he was entirely unprepared. He ran over to the edge, only to see Riba's body disappear into the clouds below. The guards seemed unconcerned, and the calm wind gave no sign that she would materialize beside them.

Genma walked over to the nearest guard, "I hope you didn't jokingly tell her to jump."

"Thats not funny," The guard said gruffly.

"So then you do speak our language."

"Just because we have not spoken, does not mean that we are incapable of doing so."

"Good, they you will understand when I say that you should take off that mask and speak to me like a man."

One of the female guards ran over and attempted to stand between them, "the Sovereign will return shortly, be patient. Please remember that if she gets into trouble she can always disintegrate."

Kakashi walked over and pulled Genma away, "we don't understand what all this means. What exactly is she to you and what is going on?"

"She was elected by the people of Uindo as a child, and is the leader of our military. She is charged with the responsibility of protecting our country, however, because we are very rarely invaded, she is sent away to other countries to gain military experience. Before that she attended the greatest assassin and archery universities we have to offer."

"Was she elected because she is a bijuu?"

"No, she was elected before the great Five-tailed Dark Dragon transformed her. Because of our Sovereigns, Shadow Assassins, and Archers, we have never lost a battle."

"Never lost a battle? I find that hard to believe."

"So too did our enemies in the Hidden Cloud Village. We remind them every couple of generations when they forget the defeat of their ancestors and attempt another invasion..."

The guards simultaneously turned to stare at the side of the mountain in anticipation. Almost as if on cue, Riba materialized. "The transport birds are carrying cargo from the ships in the port up to the supply bays. As outsiders are unable to dissolve and travel in the wind, we usually use those birds to carry them around. However, giving the volume of cargo on the ships, I am afraid we will have to take my war bird to the capital building instead. I am sorry to put you through this while you are still recovering from our trip."

Riba motioned to one of the guards who promptly brought her a long object wrapped in fine grey cloth. She carefully removed the fabric from her sword and ran her finger along the blade, managing to squeeze out a drop of blood before the searing heat cauterized the wound. Combined with a series of her one-handed seals, she summoned a very large back bird in the sky above. It quickly dove down and landed on one of the poles on the side of the building. Kakashi marvelled at the ominous appearance of the creature. Armour plating on its head covered all but its eyes, and a metal cuff on its leg bore Riba's symbol. He took that to mean that this was her personal summons.

"This is Danal, my war bird," Riba said as she gently rubbed its feathered wing. "He will take us to the High Council building in the main peak." She turned to the great bird, "I'm sorry to ask this of you, but all the transport birds are indisposed at the moment."

"I understand of course, but be warned that I will not be held responsible if they happen to be thrown from my back mid-flight," Danal said unrepentantly.

"Well then, you may all climb onto Danal's back. Please be careful not to slip and fall as this mountain is extremely high."

"I think I'll walk," Genma shouted.

After a violent prompting by Anko and Sakura, even Genma was able to muster enough courage to ride. Danal was graceful but very fast, causing the group to grip tightly at his feathers to prevent being blown off. Riba stood calmly near Danal's head, more than accustom to balancing atop a war bird.

…

The High Council building was epic in size and full of people rushing around. It was not uncommon to see someone suddenly disintegrate or materialize with no warning whatsoever. Kakashi was instantly made uncomfortable by the realization that the atmosphere around him was almost certainly filled with dissolved bodies. He hoped that the citizens of Uindo had enough control over their displaced particles to stay far away from his face so that he wouldn't accidentally breathe them in.

Asuma's resurrection was approved almost immediately. His exemplary performance as a shinobi and the fact that he had a son to raise were the deciding factors. The Uindo medics began preparing Asuma's new body and informed the group that it would take five specialized teams a total of two weeks to complete the reconstruction.

They were left to wander the large complex until called in to provide their signatures. Kakashi couldn't have asked for a better scenario and instantly began to enjoy his vacation-like mission.

Pillars stood fifty feet high in the main hall, supporting the curved ceiling above. The reflective stone illuminated the halls despite the small amount of light that filtered in through the windows. He was surprised to find that the pillars did more than merely provide structural support, they contained offices, storage areas, laboratories, and even bakeries. Each acted as their own small building within the larger complex. Thus, he spent his first week in Uindo wandering from pillar to pillar, searching for a quiet place to read Icha Icha and relax.

After days of sluggish drifting, he finally settled in a gallery of sorts. No one seemed to have any interest in the place, and he could understand why it had been abandoned. All that it contained was a large circular staircase that wound its way up the cylindrical interior, and a few hundred of paintings, all of which were relatively the same size and framed in the same style. He sat on the lowest step of the staircase and pulled out his small orange book, but had yet to even open the cover before he felt a dark presence moving towards him. He returned the book to his holster just in time to see Riba step into the room.

She smiled warmly, "dare I ask why you're hiding in the Hall of Sovereigns?"

She looked far removed from the accomplished ANBU assassin he knew her to be. Had it not been for the sword strapped to her back, he never would have know that she was an elected military leader. From her regal appearance, she looked more like a queen.

"I didn't know this was a restricted area," he admitted.

"It's not. Though, the only visitors this area sees are groups of school children on class trips. Very rarely does anyone else bother to come."

"Then why are you here?"

"That question sounds familiar. I believe I asked it a moment ago, and I don't recall receiving an answer."

"Touche, I came here to read and avoid the rush outside. I'm getting tired of walking through an invisible cloud of dissolved people everywhere I go."

She chuckled, "I'm sure they avoid you, dissolved or otherwise. Do you know what this room signifies?"

He looked around, "the need to fill an entire pillar with paintings that all look the same?"

"Despite your sarcasm, you're right. This is the Hall of Sovereigns, wherein a record is kept of every Sovereign ever to reign since the beginning of our civilization. A Sovereign serves a lifetime term of office, so from the amount of paintings in this room, you can get a feel for the age of our society."

Kakashi hadn't really bothered to inspect the paintings closely, he was beginning to see a glaringly obvious pattern. Each painting featured a woman in some position of authority. Some where leading shinobi into battle, others were seated in front of an immensely large group of people in an elegantly decorated amphitheatre. "In every painting, there is a man along side the women, are they military leaders as well?" He asked.

"No, they are the Sovereign's Royal Guard. Every Sovereign appoints a guard to aid her in her duties. He cares for all of her needs: bodyguard, teammate, counsellor and lover. The guard is always at her side, only death separates them, and even then guards are given first priority for resurrection."

He honed in on her words, wondering what game she was playing; what she was trying to insinuate, "yet, you don't have a guard."

She smiled, "yet, I don't have a guard."

The new information was very appealing. As Riba had described it, being a Royal Guard for the Sovereign was a job. It would be very difficult to penalize someone for performing the duties that their job required. It was possible that the elders had been mistaken when they had said that no exception would be made. That no teacher would ever be allowed to fraternize with a student under any circumstances. How could they turn down the opportunity to have a Konoha Jounin serve as an ambassador in a high-ranking position for Konoha's most powerful ally? And if he had diplomatic immunity in Konoha he could do as he pleased, and suffer no penalty as everything he did could be explained away as a necessary part of his position. The elders couldn't touch him, he would be above reproach.

He wouldn't even have to alter his lifestyle that much. He already preformed the majority of the required duties. He watched her back like a bodyguard, was her colleague, and had spent years counselling her when he was her teacher. The only duty that he wasn't currently tasked with was lover.

Riba suddenly twitched as if startled, "do you hear that?"

He walked up and put his hand on her shoulder. He had decided long ago to never mention his argument with the elders, but since she had unwittingly provided a solution that would save them from the ever looming threat of execution, he figured that this was the perfect time to come clean. "Riba, I'm sure that a good portion of what I am about to say will anger you, but I assure you that everything I did was to protect us."

Before he could finish, Riba brought her hand to his face, placing a finger over his masked lips, gently demanding his silence. He concentrated on her golden eyes and watched as they turned from stoic to intense. At first, he assumed that the fire in her cold body was meant for him, but eventually a sound from the outside managed to filter in. Over and above the sound of his long drawn out breaths, was the sound of a horn.

As he began to focus on the sound, a piercingly high pitched sequel that seemed to indicate a threat.

She stepped back, "we're being invaded, I have to go."

As the words left her mouth she disintegrated. He felt a cold breeze blow by, signaling her departure from the room. In an instant he was at the door and running down the hallway towards the guest pillar. He would have to bide his time until the opportunity for interrogation presented itself again. After all, her subtle conversation had given him much to think over.

Genma met Kakashi half way. They instantly fell into formation and continued to run towards the others. Genma had dropped his crude attitude in favor of intense concentration, the side of him that his closest friends considered to be his _real_ personality.


	8. The Word

Disclaimer: The rumors are true, I don't own Naruto.

Japanese translation:

Atsugai: A Jutsu used by the Akatsuki member Kakuzu. Known as the pressure damage technique, Kakuzu uses wind elemental Jutsu to create a devastating wind blast that has a large area of attack.

…

Kakashi and Genma rushed through the halls of the High Council Building with blinding speed. They slammed open the main door of the guest pillar and darted up the large spiral staircase to the highest floor, where they could hear Riba briefing the Ferocious Five.

"I believe that Uindo is being invaded. You are all to stay in this pillar until the Shadows tell you to leave. Is this in any way unclear?" She commanded.

Genma and Kakashi barged into the room. The cold stone walls and dark wooden furniture matched the ominous gray of the city.

"I'm going with you," Kurenai insisted. Her crimson eyes were cold and firm, it was obvious that she was not making a request. The room was silent; no one dared to speak as they waited for Riba's response.

"If you plan to defy me, I hope that you have a compelling reason for your decision."

"My son is out there. I didn't want him to miss school so I asked the High Council to enroll him in the Uindo Academy until his father could be resurrected."

Riba stared emotionlessly out the window and into the great hall. Most would have thought that she was unconcerned, but her friends knew better, she was planning. The instant that Kurenai finished her sentence, Riba's gaze shot back to her, "the people of Uindo have been defending this mountain for ten times the age of Konoha. Our methods differ greatly from anything that you would have learned as a Konoha shinobi, but I assure you that they have been perfected over thousands of years. If you attempt to aid us without proper training, you will most certainly die."

"My son is out there, I'm going!" She concluded her panicked outburst with an attempt at pushing past Riba. It took a single dark chakra enhanced grip on her shoulder for Riba to stop her in her tracks.

She turned Kurenai back around and stared at her with fierce intensity, "my dear, it would not do your son well to lose his mother just as he is about to regain his father. I will find him and ensure his safety, but you need to stay _here_."

"Promise me. Please, I need your word," she pleaded.

"You have my word, and if I fail, you will have my life."

The magnitude of Riba's promise seemed to convince Kurenai. She took a seat by the window, angered but obedient. Riba promptly disintegrated and blew by Kakashi and Genma, the force as she curved around their bodies almost knocked them to the floor.

Before anyone could fully process the situation, Kakashi had darted out after her. Sitting by while others fought was not his style, and he was sure that there was some way he could contribute. After all, unlike Kurenai, he had nothing to lose.

He ran down the stairs, out of the pillar, and through the great hall towards the exit. The hall itself was abandoned, as everyone had found refuge inside a pillar or deeper within the mountain. The only sound was his footsteps as he ran across the stone floor, thus, he wasn't surprised when Riba materialized beside him; she must have heard him coming.

"Hatake, I don't have the time to protect Asuma, deliver my orders to my troops, and watch over you all at once."

"Then teleport to the school and retrieve Asuma while I deliver your orders to your troops for you."

"I don't have time to argue either. We'll stay together. Once I am sure that Asuma is safe, we can join the fight."

He grinned as she responded exactly as he had expected her to. She was not one to argue over trifles when there were battles to be fought, not with him anyway. Unlike Kurenai, he would not back down.

They ran to the front of the High Council building where a finely crafted wooden sign indicated that they had arrived at the Uindo Academy. They pushed through the doors and headed into the largest auditorium that Kakashi had ever seen. Hundred's of desks, filled with children, sat in the open space. Unlike Konoha's academy, Uindo apparently housed all of its students in one room, separated by age groups.

The professor briskly walked over to them. He was surprisingly young for a person with such great responsibility, the stress of which was beginning to show in the small wrinkles in his forehead just above his wire frame glasses and below his short black hair. "My Sovereign, we must evacuate the children further into the mountain. The school could be invaded at any moment," he said nervously.

Riba continued to scan the room as the professor spoke, however, as soon as he finished, her attention snapped back to him, "the children of this land are mine to protect. I will not teach them to live in fear. School will remain in session."

"But, the back door leads to the outside…"

The instant she sensed defiance her gaze became intense, stopping the professor mid sentence, "class will remain in session. Today, the students will learn what it means to be a guardian of Uindo. There will be no evacuation; they will stay at their stations."

She pushed past the professor and moved towards the back door with Kakashi following close behind. The children seemed to be mesmerized by her presence; all attention had turned to her.

"You're quite the popular one," Kakashi teased.

She continued to scan the sea of children, "look for red eyes."

They spotted the boy sitting silently at a desk, mimicking the stoic mannerisms of his peers. He looked at them in the calmest manner Kakashi had ever seen exhibited by a child. Riba seemed less impressed. He had a knack for interpreting her mood, and at the moment she seemed more concerned than proud. As she bent down, Kakashi noticed something that had been obstructed from his vision, the boy's hands were shaking ever so slightly.

Without saying a word, she tapped the skin on her forearm and small grey scales rose to the surface. She pulled one from her arm in a single swift motion and placed it in Asuma's shaking hand. The boy seemed to be so amazed by his new trinket that he completely forgot about the battle that raged outside. By the time he looked up to thank her however, she was gone.

Riba and Kakashi stormed through the back door of the school. She slammed the door behind them and quickly spun a series of dials that were imbedded in its surface. "It's a lock to which even I don't know the combination. The children will be safe inside, anyone who attempts to force this door or put in the wrong combination will receive quite a shock," she explained.

"A chakra conductive metal door?"

"That I have just charged with my chakra. Now, we have to go. I have a shinobi army to lead."

Screeching birds were flying over the side of the mountain in such great numbers that they covered the sky and obstructed the sun. The sound was deafening, leaving Kakashi no choice but to scream in Riba's ear to be heard, "apparently the battle has started without us."

"I think not, the guardians are trained to hold their ground until the Sovereign arrives. They could hold them back for weeks if they had to."

She reached for her sword, unsheathing it just enough to cut her finger and perform her summoning hand seals. Almost instantly, Danal appeared before them.

...

Danal flew across the city so fast that, even with his chakra enhanced grip, Kakashi had a difficult time holding on. Riba however, seemed to be unaffected by the strong winds and spent the short trip analyzing the status of her troops. They followed the unending flock over the side of the mountain. There were so many birds that Kakashi could see nothing before him but the blinding white of the clouds and the silhouettes of the birds around him.

They passed through the cloud layer to the mountain below. The battle that raged there was beyond anything that Kakashi had ever seen. The shinobi from the village of the Hidden Cloud had apparently learned from the many defeats of their ancestors, and had brought thousands of reinforcements. All of which were moving up the mountain with chakra holding their feet to its surface. Intermittently, some of them would stop and perform a Jutsu that created small tornadoes that disrupted the flight of the birds above. Luckily, the Uindo shinobi were not without their own methods. Arrows that disintegrated upon release and materialized feet away from their target, made it almost impossible for the Cloud shinobi to dodge.

Repeated flashes of black could be seen among Cloud shinobi as the Shadow Assassins materialized just long enough to slice off their heads, meticulously targeting those that were creating the tornadoes, and sending their lifeless bodies sailing down the mountain to the ground below. Riba shouted orders at passing heralds, and within minutes the moment of the cloud shinobi would change, controlled by the movements of the Shadow Assassins as per her directions.

Kakashi had never seen a battle of such magnitude. From his vantage upon Danal's back, the mass of shinobi looked like thousands of ants climbing up a mound of dirt. He watched breathless with expectation of the doom that would befall the people of the Dark Winds as, despite their superior skill, they couldn't possibly have enough swords and arrows to defeat that may Cloud shinobi.

Riba glanced at him before drawing her blade from its sheath, the sound of the battle drowning out the hissing sound that he had come to associate with the heat of her sword.

"We're going down there aren't we?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm going down there."

Before he could protest, she disappeared. He knew instantly what she had done and scanned the mountain looking for any trace of her signature multicolored hair among the sea of grey toned shinobi. Yet, there was too much movement among the masses to detect a single person, even one that possessed unique features. He would need someone with superior sight to look for her.

"Danal, Riba teleported herself onto the mountain, we need to find her," he shouted.

The great bird slowed from his fierce pace to a glide and turned his head back, staring from under the armor that adorned his upper body, "if she wanted you there then she would have teleported you down herself."

"Yes, I am sure that she has only my best interests at heart, however, I can help her."

"Or get in her way."

"Or save her life."

"Why do you assume that she'll need saving? They didn't elect her to be Sovereign just because she's pretty. She's an exceptionally well-trained shinobi and an accomplished general."

"She may not need me, but I have to go anyway."

"You're not her Royal Guard, therefore, there is no need for you to be with her"

Apparently, he lacked the proper authority to ask anything of Danal. Even if he found her, he would be powerless to make it down to her location. The battle worsened with each passing minute. Watching the Shadows struggle to keep up with the onslaught, and the archers and warbirds fall from the sky, was horrendous. The vast cloud army gained ground inch by inch towards Uindo as the Dark Wind forces were slowly being pushed back. It was true that they were a dark army with unbelievable resources and skill, but the Cloud shinobi had countered that imbalance by bringing more soldiers than the Dark Wind shinobi could ever hope to kill.

Kakashi turned his options over in his mind. Falling hundreds of feet to the ground was not a skill that was needed in the relatively flat country he was from. Realistically, he had no idea how to fall correctly. Though, maybe that was not the problem. Maybe he just needed to know how to land, or how to land slowly.

He stood up, carefully balancing himself on the warbird's back, "I've been an idiot Danal."

Danal stopped and hovered "What the hell are you talking about?"

"People who don't follow the rules are trash, but people who don't take care of their friends are worse than trash." Without another word, he jumped off Danal's back and plummeted towards the mountain below.

A last minute stroke of genius allowed him to think up a new use for the Akatsuki member Kakuzu's Atsugai jutsu. Instead of focusing the large pressure blast horizontally to obliterate the enemy, he would use it vertically to slow his decent and cushion his fall. He quickly preformed the seals and began filling his lungs with chakra. At first, it tingled, but as the pressure began to build he felt as if his lungs were going to explode. The white chakra inherent in his bloodline was the only thing holding him together. He examined the terrain closely, looking for the smoothest spot to land. The mountain was not far from him, and he was straining to prevent an unrecoverable disaster.

Suddenly, a great force griped his chest, constricting his body so tightly that he prematurely released the chakra laced air from his lungs. The recoil of which caused the bird that had grappled him to be pushed violently backwards. He tried to grab his searing chest, but a large scaly claw was obstructing his reach. His fall slowed to a stop as the bird regained its balance and glided.

A deep voice resonated, "You're right, you are an idiot."

Kakashi chuckled out of frustration, "I would've made it; I had the proper Jutsu ready. Had I been left alone, I would be on the mountain right now."

"I have no doubt that you could have made the landing, however, your jump was not what I was referring to."

He looked up to see Danal gripping him tightly between his talons and staring at the mountain. He followed his gaze and instantly understood. Where there had once been Shadow Assassins effectively holding back the Cloud, there were none, and the hundreds of large birds were soaring up above the cloud line and out of sight. Without opposition, the Cloud shinobi were storming up the mountain's smooth slope with unrelenting speed. At such a rate it wouldn't be long before they reached Uindo.

Danal screeched, "It looks like a retreat."

"That isn't possible; no student of mine would turn over her country so easily," he contradicted.

Whether or not Danal had heard him, he couldn't tell. A defining rumble had drowned out his speech. It only lasted a minute, and was quickly replaced by a loud hiss that increased in volume until it became impossible to hear anything else. He looked up towards the source of the sound, and saw what must have terrified the Cloud shinobi. The clouds were vaporizing, sending giant plums of steam high into the sky above. The normally well concealed city was now clearly visible, as were a series of unnaturally large hatches that had previously been completely hidden by the cloud cover.

Kakashi vividly recalled how Riba had attempted to describe the state of the mountain, but lacked the linguistic skills to properly describe it. Finally, he understood what she had tried to say.

"Volcano."

As the ornate hatches slowly opened, a searing sea of molten rock began to pour down the mountain's slopes. Thousands of Cloud shinobi fled from the viscous material. Had panic not overtaken them they may have escaped, but the mass hysteria made any chance of survival near impossible. Swarms of fleeing shinobi pushed their brothers and sisters aside as they ran; climbing over those that had fallen in a drastic attempt to outmaneuver the rapidly increasing molten flow.

As the Cloud army was overtaken the mountain became silent. The only remaining sound was the faint bubbling of the lava and the flapping of Danal's wings.

"Did you know that was about to happen?" Kakashi asked.

"I've never seen nor heard of anything like this before. I didn't even know those hatches existed."

The rising heat from the lava was creating thermal up drafts that were periodically throwing Danal off-balance. The great bird's wings began to flap hard as he pulled Kakashi up against his body and flew in the direction of Uindo.

…

The High Council building was packed with people. It was to Kakashi's benefit that he and his friends appeared vibrant when compared to the grey of the city and its citizens. It made Genma and the Ferocious Five easy to find.

Riba, however, was nowhere to be found. Beneath his guise of aloofness, Kakashi's tension was mounting. The group finally decided to split up; Anko, Sakura, Shian, and Kurenai would head to the school and retrieve little Asuma, while Genma and Kakashi would find Riba. They walked aimlessly from pillar to pillar searching the crowds, and after two hours were no closer to finding her.

Genma sighed, "tell me again why I'm wandering the hallways of this maze."

"I need to find her as soon as possible. How is that difficult for you to understand?"

"Because you have yet to explain why we embarked on this quest in the first place. It's far more likely that she will find us before we find her. If you want my opinion, we should go back to the guest pillar and wait for her guards to retrieve us."

"Your problem is that you assume I give a shit about your opinions," Kakashi snapped.

Genma instantly stopped, leaving Kakashi to continue forward for a moment before realizing that he had no intention of following.

"The time has finally come for you to stop dicking around and tell me what the hell is going on," Genma said defiantly.

Kakashi dropped his aloof expression and stood silently.

"Answer me Kakashi!"

"Answer what?" He said coolly.

Genma walked up to him, close enough so only the two of them could hear, "are you fucking your student?"

Kakashi stood shocked. He couldn't think, only stare. Genma seemed unfazed and determined, as if he had waited to broach the subject and had rehearsed his speech, "I'm not saying that you're right or wrong, but I am saying is that you're doing a very poor job of hiding whatever it is that's happening. Everyone in Konoha suspects something, they just don't know exactly what it is they suspect, so they're making shit up as they go along. Listen, you're one of my closest friends. I won't judge you, and I will take your secret to the grave, but you have to be honest with me. Are you fucking your student?"

Kakashi sighed in nervous frustration. Genma was right; people had to be making up stories. Why wouldn't they? A reclusive teacher fooling around with his inhuman student? It would be a delicious scandal. "No," he answered. "I've never slept with my student. Not in a sexual way at least."

"Do you plan to?"

"No."

"Do you want to?"

"Sometimes yes."

"Do you love her?"

He flinched, "I don't think so."

"Are you sure?"

"I don't know, does it really matter? The elders could care less if I love her; all that matters to them is sex."

"Of course it matters! If she is just a friend and pretty face, then I am sure we can find another pretty face to satisfy you. However, if the reason you want her so badly is that you love her, then we have a whole other problem. Love carries with it the potential for obsession, and if she becomes your obsession then the sexual tension between you two will continue to build until one of you inevitably snaps. Riba is a powerful leader and ally of Konoha, but you're just a jounin, an outstanding Jounin perhaps, but a Jounin just the same. She would probably be exiled, you on the other hand will be lucky if you aren't tortured to death. The elders have had it out for your family for generations. The minute that your will shatters, they will use the opportunity to make an example of you."

Genma's eyes shifted. A young female archer was walking towards them. He leaned closer, "be careful about what you say and when you say it."

Kakashi nodded a silent thank you.

Despite the arrogant and inept façade that Genma upheld, he was actually quite brilliant. The thought that Riba might be replaceable had never occurred to him. Though she could never be replaced as a friend, another woman could fill the sexual gaps that she left behind.

The archer approached them and gently waved a greeting, "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I have to ask the two of you to accompany me to the High Council Military Chamber."

Kakashi feigned innocence, "I did have something that I was looking for, but after speaking with Genma, I feel that a _substitution_ for my original plan would be more appropriate. Please, lead the way."


	9. Substitution

Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto.

"The growth of the State giving the trustees of public authority more and means to abuse their power, the more the Government has to have force to contain the people, the more force the Sovereign should have in turn in order to contain the Government,"

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in Book III, Chapter III of his 1763 treatise Of the Social Contract

…

Two massive metal doors formed the entrance way to the Military Chamber, each no less than fifty feet high and engraved with numerous battle scenes, all of which took place below the watchful eye of a five-tailed dragon.

Genma called ahead to the archer, "excuse me, but is that engraving above the doors an image of Riba? I mean, when she's not in human form?"

"That engraving has been there for hundreds of years, so no, it is not Riba. But unless I am mistaken, it's a rendering of the one that is responsible for her rebirth."

"So, is that what she really looks like?"

"Well, she hasn't taken that form since before I was born, so I am probably not a good person to ask. But from what I've heard, yes she looks something like the one that created her."

The dragon was long and sleek. Its gentle eyes gave it a sense of serenity and security, appearing as a protector of the shinobi fighting in the engravings below. The archer opened a small door off to the side that was indistinguishable from the polished rock that surrounded it. Kakashi entered in front of Genma and the archer, who promptly closed and locked the door behind them. They walked down a narrow passage and up a long staircase that was almost completely dark, until they finally reached their seats. The extraordinary amphitheatre was capable of seating thousands in the sloped seating of the lower level and a few hundred more on the balconies. They sat in a balcony high above the floor, and thus, had a great view of the proceedings below.

"Well gentlemen, what do you think? The Sovereign ordered that the best seats be reserved for you and the Ferocious Five. I'm sorry that Anko, Shian, Sakura, and Kurenai were detained at the school. It's very rare that a full session of the High Council is called, so they may never have another chance to see it."

Genma leaned over Kakashi and spoke to the archer in a sultry tone, "this place is truly magnificent. However, it's not the most beautiful thing I've seen today..."

Kakashi interrupted, "would you at all mind telling more about this fascinating amphitheatre?"

"I would be delighted. As you can see, each area of the chamber is divided into sections. In the center on the main floor is where the archers and guards sit. On the left and right sides towards the front are where the Hyuuga and Uchiha representatives sit. Those are some of the best seats in the chamber, made from wood that was imported from their home land of Konoha."

"There are no Uchiha left to be representatives, so who sits there now?"

"No one. The High Council wanted the Hyuuga to sit in both sections, but the Sovereign wouldn't allow it. She has hope that the Uchiha clan will rise to regain their position in the council once more."

"So, where do the Shadow Assassins sit? I don't see them anywhere."

"There's another balcony embedded in the wall at the front of the chamber, high above the Sovereign and High Council. A thin layer of stone separates them from the proceedings below. It was designed so that they can see out, but no one can see in. Such precautions preserve their anonymity."

Kakashi stared at the seemingly plain wall at the front of the chamber, now slightly uncomfortable now that he knew that the eyes of the world's most accomplished assassins were staring at him from their extraordinarily well hidden seats.

The archer continued, "Below the Shadows, in the semicircle of seats just above the main floor, is where the nine members of the High Council sit. The single chair that sits in front of them is the Sovereign's throne. As you can see, it is one level above the main floor but one level below the High Council, symbolizing the connection the Sovereign has between the shinobi and council. Everyone else sits were we are now, in the far balconies."

Genma had fallen asleep during the archer's explanation, but Kakashi hung on her every word, "this is so unlike my country. Our elders work in secret, and no one is privy to their meetings. It's amazing that your country has gone to such great lengths to make military decisions public."

"You think this is amazing? You should see our full sessions of parliament. It gets quite rowdy sometimes, but at least nothing is hidden. It keeps our leaders honest."

"When will the Sovereign take her seat?"

"Right now apparently."

From his vantage, he could barely see the form of his friend walking through the richly decorated doors at the back of the amphitheatre. Despite the thousands of people that filled the room, complete silence reigned. She seemed so different from the small child that used to hide in the shadows of the Uchiha compound. It was hard for him to connect his memories of her when she was his student with the sight before him.

She wore a black backless gown that displayed the chakra filled tattoos and strode down the aisle, making her way to the head of the chamber. He strained to get a better look, shifting in his seat. Seeing the way that she moved, gracefully and with confidence, was beginning to make him question his resolve.

"She looks remarkably calm for someone who just burned thousands of shinobi to death, and has a layer of dead enemy underneath a layer of molten rock on the side of her capital city," Genma joked.

"How did you know about the lava? You weren't there," Kakashi asked.

"It's all that the people around here have discussed. Apparently it is a defensive mechanism that had never been tried before. No one was sure if it would work."

The sound of her thin high heel shoes tapping against the dark wooden floor was the only sound that could be heard in the great chamber as Riba ascended the steps and sat gently in the Sovereign's throne. She leaned forward ever so slightly and looked back at the elder council before addressing the chamber.

"You have fought well today; thus, we may hail a great victory," She said triumphantly.

The crowed applauded and cheered at the confirmation of victory, settling down only when it was clear that the council was not calling an end to the session with just that announcement.

Riba leaned back, "however, the great battle is not the cause of our current meeting. Another desperate event occurred simultaneously along side the invasion. Representatives from the Clan of Hyuuga, who come to us from the Land of Fire, bravely attempted to cross through the land of Sound to bring us a grave message. We're quite fortunate that their messenger bird made it to our land in time for us to send some of our finest war birds to retrieve them. Thus, despite great personal danger, all thirty representatives have arrived to speak with us regarding a most serious matter."

Hyuuga Hiashi, father of Hyuuga Hinata, rose from his seat and stepped forward. Though he was a strong leader, it was obvious by his furrowed brow that he was greatly disturbed, "the Hyuuga of Konohagakure have been allied with the Dark Wind for longer than anyone can remember. Never have we failed to collaborate in matters of politics, and it is that tradition which brings us to your fair city."

One of the Uindo elders looked to the others, then rose from his seat. The style of his black robe mirrored the white ones worn by the Hyuuga, suggesting that the Uindo and Hyuuga had a shared ancestry.

The elder's voice, crisp and low, reverberated throughout the chamber, "calm yourself Hiashi. Always have we, and always shall we, support the Hyuuga and Uchiha. We have no doubt that it was a dubious event that caused you to request a full session of the High Council. Know that any assistance required by your great clan will be extended to you by Uindo, you need only ask."

Hiashi nodded appreciatively, "Uindo was invaded today. Had Konoha itself not been invaded, I have no doubt that we would have succeeded in providing adequate warning. Over the last four days, Konoha has fought back a vicious invasion by Oto, land of the Hidden Sound. We believe that they enlisted the assistance of the Hidden Cloud, and requested that they simultaneously invade Uindo. Had you not been invaded this morning, you would have provided reinforcements to Konoha. Thus, Oto would have been fighting a war on both borders."

"If our shinobi are what you're requesting, then that would be a rather difficult plea for us to fulfil. We have yet to determine whether the Hidden Cloud has expended all their resources upon us. Though the molten material that is now lining the side of Uindo Peak will be impossible to traverse for quite some time, though in exchange, we have lost the cloud cover that protects our city. It would be unwise of us to allow any mass troop deployment until we have reconnaissance regarding the level of threat and have restored our protective climate."

"There is only one Uindo shinobi that we would like to request, and given that she is also a Konoha ANBU, we don't feel it's unreasonable for us to appoint her to an immediate position as a captain in charge of a base at the border of Konoha and Oto. We realize that this is an inopportune time, however, Konoha has never needed her more than we do now."

"Absolutely not! Even if what you say is correct, I'm forced to remind you that our Sovereign has yet to select a guard to accompany her. This council will not allow her to bet put in long-term mortal danger without suitable protection. Her loss would be unbearable for the people of our country."

"Councilmen, I assure you that the Sovereign is as highly regarded by the Hyuuga as she is by Uindo. Thus, we'll provide her with one of our most highly trained shinobi to act as a _substitute_ Royal Guard."

Hiashi's voice resonated through the hall with such high acoustic quality that Kakashi was sure he had heard him correctly. His breath became shallow as he turned slowly to Genma and spoke in a venomous tone, "did you know this was about to happen?"

Genma's mouth was gaping open in silent surprise, "of course I not! How could I?"

"He used the same reference to a substitution that you did."

"It's a coincidence. I didn't know."

The elder council engaged in hushed whispers until they finally appeared to reach a consensus. "Who do you plan to give our Sovereign?" The elder asked.

From the far wall, among the shadows that seemed to consume the barely lit chamber, a man stood. He had been completely undetectable until that moment, but the minute that he approached Riba, all of Uindo was focused on him. The Hyuuga's long white robes had been replaced with a black version of the same style, making him look far less out of place among the Uindo shinobi than his Hyuuga brethren. He calmly walked down the aisle with the graceful stride inherent in his bloodline, silently ascended the steps, and kneeled before Riba.

Hiashi bowed, "the Hyuuga offer one of the branch family's finest shinobi, Hyuuga Neji. He is fully prepared to defend the Sovereign until death."

The elder council members inspected the young Hyuuga. I was apparent from their knowing glances that this was not the first time they had met Neji. "The council is satisfied with your proposal. The only other condition that we must impose is that Uindo be allowed to recall the Sovereign if we believe it necessary for the protection of the Dark Winds."

Hiashi nodded, "your terms are acceptable. Konoha is more than grateful for your generosity."

The elder grinned, "seek not our generosity, but that of our Sovereign. It's she who is responsible for making the final decision."

Everyone's attention returned to Riba. Her golden eyes focused on Neji even as she addressed Hiashi, "I mean not to pry too far into Hyuuga affairs, but I do have a question."

"The affairs of the Hyuuga are the affairs of Uindo."

"Then tell me dear Hiashi, how was this young man selected for such a position? I ask only because he must make the decision to serve of his own volition, without coercion, and be accepting of the consequences."

Hiashi grinned slightly, "my Sovereign, Hyuuga Neji volunteered."

"Am I to understand then Neji, that you are aware of what you have agreed to and will comply fully? That you understand all of the duties that are required of a Royal Guard?"

He didn't speak, only nodded.

Riba extended her arm and gently motioned for him to approach. The young Hyuuga stood and walked behind her throne, resting his hand on its back as she placed her hand over his.

They appeared not unlike the Sovereigns and Royal Guards that were portrayed in the paintings in the Hall of Sovereigns. In Kakashi's opinion, they looked far too perfect. He wanted to look away, but was transfixed by a mixture of shock and betrayal.


	10. The Northern Fifty

Disclaimer: If Naruto was mine then this wouldn't be a fanfic.

Japanese translation:

Yuuwaku: temptation

…

For years, war raged at the border of the Konoha and Oto, yet very few citizens in Konoha seemed to notice. Shortly after the initial invasion the Sound shinobi were pushed back across the border, and in a few months, all was seemingly back to normal in the capital city. The only indications that a war was still occurring were the reports of atrocities that were published in the local newspaper. Both Asuma and Kakashi had purchased a subscription and waited patiently every week for the latest edition to be released.

Of the two, Asuma was in a far worse position. He had awoken in the land of the Dark Winds only to find that his wife had come and gone. Kurenai, along with the rest of the Ferocious Five had been sent to defend Konoha's northern border and had not been seen since their departure. Asuma had conceded to allowing his son to stay in the Uindo Academy where he would remain far removed from any reports of the ruinous battles his mother was facing. The tragic irony was that the Uindo High Council had agreed to allow Asuma's resurrection, in large part, because he had a wife and child that needed him.

With Riba leading the base in the north, Kakashi was left to live his life in a constant state of paranoia. He hadn't had the opportunity to speak with her since the invasion of Uindo, and now spent all his time silently refining what he would say to her if he ever saw her again.

A new three man team consisting of Kakashi, Genma, and Asuma had been formed by the Hokage for the purpose of handling many of the miscellaneous mission requests that had filtered in from local towns. The revenue that the team generated was greatly needed by Konohagakure. War is expensive after all, and the city's treasury was dwindling. Who better to charge with such a large volume of work then the men who could use the distraction the most?

And so it was that every Friday evening the three men would shuffle into The Little Boxer and attempt to discuss anything but the war, yet, end up discussing it anyway. They sat in the same corner, at the same rickety table, drenched in the same aroma of cigarette smoke and sweat that seemed to be the defining feature of the seedy establishment. The scent, along with Genma's customary attempts to flirt shamelessly with the young barmaids, was a constant reminder that some things would never change.

Kakashi sat beside his friends in silence as he slowly turned the pages of his newspaper, the sound of which was drowned out by Genma's incessant banter.

"I think she gets prettier every time I see her," he purred.

Asuma began to search his vest for a cigarette,"which one is it this time?"

Genma grinned as he smoothly enunciated every syllable, "Yuuwaku."

"And who the hell is that?"

"You know, the waitress who has served us for the past four years?"

Asuma searched the other side of his vest for a match to light his cigarette with, "I don't remember her."

"How could you not notice such a beautiful creature?"

"Because I don't give a shit," he sighed in defeat as he realized that he was out of matches. The thought of using a fire jutsu was there, but he resisted.

Genma had fallen strangely quiet and looked over at Kakashi with interest, "what does the paper say about the Northern Base?"

Without bothering to look up, Kakashi read the front page article aloud, "the Northern Base, known by its inhabitants as the Northern Fifty, has experienced little peace as of late. The final vestiges of war have left many Sound shinobi along the border scrambling in their last attempts at invasion. Despite a great increase in attacks, the Northern Fifty has held strong and not relinquished any of the Fire Country's territory. It's our pleasure to report that the Northern Base has continued to experience no casualties despite the vast damage they have caused to the Sound shinobi forces. It's rumored that the Northern Base is in desperate need of supplies; however, information on the restocking of food, water, and medicine for the outlying bases has yet to be released."

"No news is good news I suppose." Genma said. "So...to Hokage tower then? I want to know if we have a mission tonight before I make _other arrangements._"

Ignoring his unrepentantly sexual reference, the gentlemen stood and threw a few crumpled bills and dirty coins onto the table and headed for the door.

…

Hokage tower was unnaturally hectic. The normally vacant halls were filled with shinobi, medical staff, and other such specialists hurrying through the crowded space. Kakashi moved as close to the far wall as possible to squeeze by the mass of people while simultaneously keeping up with his friends. They slowly made it to the door of the Hokage's office, and knocked on its hard wooden surface with enough force to make sure that she could hear them over the shuffling footsteps in the hallway. A calm voice, barely audible from behind the door, beckoned them inside.

Tsunade stood at the large bay window in her office, staring quietly at the city below. It was clear that the stress of managing both the city and the war had taken its toll. She sighed despairingly, "we won. We must have been right."

"it's over then?" Asuma asked.

"The Sound has lost too many shinobi to continue, and has surrendered their territory to the Fire. The war is over…and has just begun."

Tsunade's words reverberated in Kakashi's mind. After years of stagnation, his nerves finally came to life. If the war was over, then the members of the Northern Fifty would no doubt be recalled and replaced by mobile border guards. He was elated by the thought that his friends would be returning home. Yet somehow, Tsunade's announcement seemed too sudden. The newspaper had in no way indicated that the war had ended, only that the Fire Country was the superior force. The whole situation seemed unreal.

His shifting emotions finally concluded with an overwhelming sense of dread. Slowly, an image of deadly pale skin that encased dark intentions began to form within his mind. It was the snake that was the problem. It was unlike him to give in so easily. Create a false retreat to lead Konoha into an ambush perhaps, but certainly not surrender. Even as he pictured Riba standing proudly at the foot of the Northern Base, his intuition replaced his thoughts with those of Orochimaru brutalizing her lifeless body, slowly slicing open her motionless chest with a thin blade, and searching for the source of her inhuman power. The very thought sent a chill up his spine that stung every nerve in his body. "Tsunade-sama, Are we to understand that Orochimaru has surrendered of his own accord? Seems a little unlikely given his nature…"

"It wasn't Orochimaru that surrendered. His own people did it for him after they usurped control of the Sound Country. It was civil war that brought him to his knees, not Konoha."

"He's been apprehended then?"

"No, I am afraid that he escaped the coup along with his pupil, Kabuto. We're now uncertain of their location."

They fell silent. Nothing but the sound of footsteps and unidentifiable voices from the busy hallway outside could be heard.

Asuma whispered, "can I bring my wife home?"

Tsunade's answer was so quick that it was clear it had been long thought out, "are you sure that's what you want?"

The question seemed as though it should be rhetorical; yet, it was obvious by her tone that she expected an answer.

Asuma nodded confidently, attempting to betray his obvious confusion.

As if the matter required no further explanation, Tsunade walked briskly to the door, her high heel shoes tapping rhythmically against the wooden floor. No sooner had her hand touched the elegantly crafted brass door knob that she uttered one last comment, "be at Konoha's front gates in ten minutes, no later. Bring nothing with you except the clothing on your backs as you will be expected to carry supplies."

…

The caravan of shinobi gradually moved across the fire country. The overload of food and water slowed their journey almost to a crawl. Over one hundred shinobi and medical assistants had volunteered to embark on the mission, most of whom seemed to be in exceptionally high spirits. Talk of old adventures and future plans spread across the single file line like wild-fire, making the trip across the cluttered forest seem slightly more bearable.

The war had ended so suddenly, and that was the issue that consumed Kakashi's thoughts. It had eaten away at him from the moment he entered the Hokage's office. Everyone around him seemed to be swept up in the romantic simplicity of the situation and failed to see the obvious flaw. The idea that Riba had run off with nothing more than a few men and had pushed the Sound Country into surrender, all while incurring no troop losses, was too extraordinary. Was it a trap? Had they received false information? Was the entire Northern Fifty killed? Was there an ambush awaiting them?

Horrid images that had haunted his dreams began to surface. He vividly envisioned Orochimaru sinking his fangs into her. Secretly pulling her away from the base and into the cold stone basement of a hidden layer. Without Riba leading the base, it would quickly fall. Then he could spread any propaganda he wanted to Konoha. All it would take was a couple of falsified correspondences to the local newspaper and the apathetic populous would continue to go happily about their sheltered lives without ever questioning it. How long would it take for the elders to discover the deception? What would it take for them to care what happens north of Konohagakure? Riba could be imprisoned for years before the bureaucracy chose to act on her behalf. After all, she was a wild beast to them, one that they could unleash whenever they weren't in the mood to sacrifice one of their own sons or daughters.

His mood sank once he realized that, at that moment, Orochimaru could be performing repeated autopsy like surgeries on her living body, just to see how her organs functioned. She could handle that, she had undergone such training in Uindo, but what if that was just the beginning? What if he decided to use her luxurious body for his own personal pleasure? She was far too proud to endure such abuse. He would treat her like a mindless animal. After all, that's how the Konoha elders treated her, why shouldn't he?

Suddenly, the sound of a twig snapping under the weight of his foot broke Kakashi from his clouded thoughts. He looked up at the group ahead of him. Somehow he'd managed to lag relatively far behind. Luckily, his absence had yet to be noticed. He hiked the pack of medical supplies on his back up a bit farther and ran ahead.

It didn't take him long to catch up to Genma, who had slowed his pace just enough to make sure that they would meet up at distance removed enough from the group so that they couldn't be heard.

"So, what the hell is your problem? Shouldn't you be happy to see your student lover again?" Genma teased.

"She is _not_ my lover."

"Whatever delusions help you sleep at night."

"Seriously Genma, I'm not in the mood."

"Seriously Kakashi, I'm not in the mood to play games with you, so why don't you cut the bullshit and tell me why you suddenly can't handle walking in a single file line like the rest of the kindergarten graduates. Or did they not teach that in your accelerated classes?"

"Because it's all too simple."

"Do you have a particular problem with being happy? Is it really that hard to accept that Riba preformed beyond all expectations?"

"It's not that."

"Then what is it?"

"You don't understand her like I do."

Genma stopped in his tracks, this time however, Kakashi stopped beside him instead of walking on. He had learned from previous experience that Genma would not continue until he had received an answer.

"Enlighten me Kakashi. What is it about her that I don't understand?"

"Everything about Riba is a trade off. She controls a vast army of assassins, yet is in the service of her ally's leaders. She possesses the power of the five-tailed bijuu; yet, the same power consumes her with freezing black chakra. Now she has miraculously managed to force the Sound Country into surrender with only fifty shinobi, and without a single casualty."

"So you think there was some kind of trade off?"

"I _know_ there was a trade off."

"What if you're wrong? What if she's just an exceptional leader?"

"That's the problem. I'm not wrong."

"Then let's go see how right you are."

Without another word, Genma turned and hurried to regain the caravan, lugging the large water jug on his back. Kakashi stood still for a moment before following behind.

…

The first sign that something was up ahead was the smell. The humidity level was extreme, making Kakashi and the rest of the caravan feel remarkably like they were breathing in more water vapor than oxygen. He couldn't help but wonder if that was why the odd smell seemed so prevalent. It was as if the odor stuck to his skin and saturated his body. The smell was both familiar and yet strange. He strained to put it in context.

Out of the darkness Genma began to appear. He fell into step, matching Kakashi's stride. The senbon that normally rested between his lips had been replaced by a piece of tattered blue cloth he had tied around his head to form a mask, not unlike Kakashi's.

"I seem to have started a trend," Kakashi teased.

"That's not funny; this nasty smell is killing me."

"It seems familiar."

"Yeah, it reminds..."

A loud crunch halted his sentence. Two pieces of thin wood were lying on the ground. Despite the damage to the boards, it was obvious that the fragments had at one time formed some kind of sign or marker. Genma reached down and gathered the soggy remnants. After some fidgeting, he managed to fit the pieces together and turned the finished product towards Kakashi. The black letters were barely visible against the water stained wood:

_Welcome to the Reject Cage_

_Home of the Northern Fifty_

_Fifty of us came and fifty of us shall leave_

It wasn't long before Asuma had backtracked to their location. He slowly approached, temporarily removing the cloth he was holding over his mouth and nose, "why are you two lagging behind? Is the smell too much for you?" He moved closer and leaned in between the Kakashi and Genma's shoulders, "what the hell is this? It doesn't make any sense."

Genma sighed, "well of course it makes sense. The Northern Fifty refers to the fifty shinobi that were sent to the Northern Base."

Asuma coughed as the overpowering odor became too much for him to handle. He returned the cloth to his face and spoke through it, "I know that you moron! I trained in Uindo remember? I was referring to the first line...what's a _Reject Cage_?"

Genma shrugged, "I don't know, a cage in which you keep rejects?"

At that moment, Kakashi reached over and grabbed the tattered pieces of the sign from Genma's hands with a single irritated tug, and flung them to the ground, "it's the tradition of our current elders to imprison whoever they fear they can't control, continuously finding ways to keep them separated from the rest of the city."

He fell silent and began to walk towards the caravan, leaving Asuma and Genma to catch up with his brisk pace. They remained silent, at a loss about how to respond to such an accusatory statement. Kakashi's tone had been sharp, indicating that the topic was not open for discussion.

…

They had travelled a relatively small distance when the strange sound began. At first it seemed to blend in with the noise from the caravan, but eventually became more defined and frequent. It was a low-pitched whistle, much like the sound a bird makes when it calls for its mate. Kakashi listened as he helped the others unpack and arrange the mass of supplies in the area that Tsunade was loudly proclaiming would be the temporary medical facility, but apparently, whatever made the sound was now gone.

He began to open a small box of bandages when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Tsunade staring tensely at him, "get Genma and Asuma and head north through the forest for a quarter-mile until you reach the edge of a shallow valley. The base will be in the center. Find Riba and tell her that I want all of her shinobi to come into the forest and assemble here for a mandatory medical inspection. The sun will be setting soon, so have them wait until dark to move away from the base. We can use the cover of the forest to hide our presence. I don't want any leftover Sound rogues detecting the shift change between Riba's ANBU and the new mobile guard units."

He handed Tsunade the partly open box and called over Genma and Asuma as he headed in the direction of the base.

The smell was overwhelming and the air seemed to darken. Gradually, they saw the silhouetted form of the tents. Asuma lead a single file line between two of them in an effort to reach the center of the valley. Both he and Genma passed between the tightly packed shelters without problem, Kakashi however, was not so lucky. In his haste, Genma had managed to snag a wire, pulling the small peg it was attached to from the ground. Moments later, Kakashi tripped on the peg and fell to the ground with an unceremonious thud. Genma and Asuma had already moved far enough ahead to be out of sight, leaving him to find his own way. He reached out and grabbed the tent beside him, using it to steady himself as he rose to his feet.

He let go of the fabric and examined is hand, it felt slick and warm. He raised it to his masked nose and absorbed the smell, and began to decipher the many layers of the odor as mold and blood. The tent seemed to be saturated with the disgusting mixture.

Then he heard it, the whistling sound that had captivated him earlier. He reflexively moved away from the tents and into the interior of the base where the sound seemed to originate from. Liquid splashed onto his torso as he ran into a large puddle, which slowed his pace to a crawl. When the mud became too thick to walk through, he paused.

He listened closely, but the base was silent. The smell was beginning to make bile rise in his throat. He struggled to the shore and attempted to step out of the puddle when he felt his foot hit a large object. He tried to step around it and move on, when suddenly, a thin hand had grabbed his leg.

"Stop moving," the person hissed.

The harshness of the voice froze him. It was distinctly feminine and he instantly recognized it, "Sakura?"

"Stay still, the sun has gone down, the fog will lift soon."

He bent down beside the prone woman and looked at the scene around him. She was right, as day turned to night and the earth cooled, the steam fog had begun to dissipate, and the soft blue glow of the moon was beginning to illuminate the area.

Slowly, he looked down at her, expecting to see the cute little girl he had instructed embodied in the beautiful young woman that she had grown into, but all that lay before him was something that looked like a decaying corpse. Her cloths were tattered and ripped. Had they once been her favorite red top and black pants, one could never tell as they were covered in dried blood and dirt that was matted so deep into the fabric that it was unrecognizable. Through the rips and tears he saw an unending sea of wounds in various stages of recovery. Most were deep gashes that hadn't been stitched together properly, or at all, with mold covered dirt embedded deep inside. In some places a fungus had crept under her skin and was festering within, feeding off the moisture from her body. She was both severely emaciated and dehydrated, and it appeared that not a single place on her body was free of a horrid scar, wound, or disfigurement.

Without a word, she lifted her shaking hand to his face and wiped the area under his eyes. Air whisked across his skin as she wiped away a strange residue. Her hoarse voice was barely audible, "it's from the pond. The liquid turns to fog during the day."

He began to comprehend the magnitude of her words, and was overtaken by shock. The pond was filled with decaying blood and mold which created the steam fog that saturated the air around him; the air he had breathed all day. Everything was covered in it. The thought made him gag profusely as his body subconsciously attempted to vomit up everything he had ingested over the last few hours. He could feel Sakura's hand move to his back, trying to gently massage away his sickness.

His shadow was cast over her face, preventing him from seeing it clearly. He moved slightly and looked silently upon her, straining to hide his horror. Her hair had been haphazardly cut so short that it was barely visible through the layers of blood and dirt that covered her. She attempted to smile at him from under back and blue skin, but all she could muster was a small smirk as the left side of her face had collapsed in from what appeared to be a shattered jaw.

He spoke in as calm a manner as he could invoke, "I need to take you inside; you can't stay here in the mud. It's infecting your wounds."

Her eyes widened in terror, "you can't take me in there!"

"I have to Sakura. I can't leave you here like this."

"No! The fungus has taken over the tents, if you go inside it will seep into your skin, and devour you from the inside. The safest place is between the blood pit and the tents, where the least amount of fungus is."

He looked over the shore of the pond. The fog had hidden the dozens of bodies that lay around the perimeter. They all remained so still that he would have thought them dead to had it not been for the slight movement of their chests as they strained to breath. Many were even worse off than Sakura, so horribly disfigured that they were impossible to identify. Two bodies over, he saw Asuma leaning over someone. Had it not been for the single red eye that was visible through the severely swollen face, he would have never recognized Kurenai. He watched as Asuma strained to hold back his tears so as not to frighten his barely conscious wife.

"Sakura, what happened here?"

She coughed and gagged, trying to laugh, "isn't it obvious? We paid the price of victory."

She turned away from him and appeared to be listening carefully for something. He closed his eye and attempted to concentrate on the sounds of the forest. Gradually, one became more noticeable. It was the whistle.

He looked around and searched for the source, but nothing new entered his field of vision. He was about to question Sakura, but before he could speak, she yelled into the forest, "here! Come here!"

Instantly the sound stopped and was replaced by the sound of splashing water as something moved through the pond towards them. As it moved closer he recognized it as the silhouette of Riba.

She struggled through the water and stepped onto the shore, limping carefully forward as if analyzing every step. For a moment, it appeared as though she was going to walk past them. Kakashi was about to call out to her when she suddenly stopped. At that same moment Sakura slightly shifted and he realized that Riba had bumped into her lower leg, almost tripping over her.

Riba dropped to her knees and crawled along Sakura's body up to her head and gently run her thin fingers through the remains of Sakura's pink hair, removing bits of dirt and grim as she went.

He froze, curiosity compelling him to look, but fear prevented him. His lungs tightening as if they were about to collapse. Her skin was amazingly free of cuts and gashes; however, was covered in disjointed dark patches where her scales had failed to retract back into her body correctly, and now partly protruded from her skin in strange jagged patterns. The rest of her skin was tinted burgundy. He flinched as he vividly recalled when, in their childhood, he had punched her so hard that she had bled internally despite the protection of her scales. Apparently, small instances of internal bleeding had become so common that the blood had begun to permanently coagulate under her skin.

A mixture of curiosity and anger drove his gaze up her devastated body to her face. Her long multicolored hair had been cut short like with the rest of the Northern Fifty, and her face was covered with patches of scales and burgundy skin. The fungus had infected her as well. Its green ooze could be seen lingering just under the surface of her neck and appeared to be spreading onto her face. A dark, blood encrusted, cloth that had been torn from the leg of her Uchiha jumpsuit was haphazardly tied around her head, covering her eyes.

Sakura, it seemed, could sense Kakashi's confusion and hesitation, and began to raise her hand towards Riba's face. In an instant, Kakashi grabbed her weak wrist, "Sakura, don't."

"Why not? It's what you came here to see isn't it?"

He felt at warm pressure on his hand and noticed that Riba had given him the cloth. He stared at the dirty fabric, unable to bring himself to look her in the eye.

"It's alright Kakashi, you can look," she said warmly.

It was the same clear and confident voice that he had known for years. Her hypnotic tone uncontrollably forced him to look.

It was as if the dark chakra had finally consumed her. Both of her eyes were entirely devoid of color, and their blackness gave the appearance that she had empty holes where her eyes used to be. If she was somehow staring at him, he couldn't tell. He immediately began to gag and heave, "how did this happen? What did they do to you?"

She chuckled darkly, "Isn't it obvious? We held back the Sound shinobi while keeping each other alive. Accomplishing the impossible doesn't come without a price. We all paid it. I paid with my eyes. I finally had the Mangekyou Sharingan. As quickly as I acquired it, it disappeared, leaving me as I am now."

"Are you...blind?"

"As a bat my dear."

Tsunade's medics were beginning to arrive, but went unnoticed by Kakashi, who sat in a state of silent shock as the Northern Fifty were loaded into stretchers. All that could be heard throughout the silent forest was footsteps, groans, and the hushed crying of Tsunade who was personally carrying the front end of Sakura's stretcher. Kakashi grabbed Riba's hand and attempted to help her up.

"Not yet, I was the first person to arrive at this base, and I will be the last to leave it," she scowled. She pulled her hand away and began to whistle. This time her beckoning was promptly answered as Neji pushed through the blood soaked mud. His short hair and plethora of scars and open wounds made him unrecognizable as a Hyuuga. His once brilliant white eyes had become crimson with blood from broken vessels around his invisible pupil. Somehow the prodigy seemed far more calm than he should have been. It seemed inappropriate, even slightly demented, to not be upset at the present situation.

Neji extended his hand and helped her to her feet, "Are you ready?"

"Who's left?" She asked.

"No one besides ourselves. The rest have been taken away by the Hokage," he said, his voice raspy from fatigue.

"Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't give you a report I wasn't."

She smirked, "I knew you were going to say that. You have become quite predictable."

"Only to you perhaps."

They began to walk away from the pond with Kakashi following quickly behind. She moved between the tents with ease, as if she had a mental map of every obstruction in her path. Kakashi however, stared at the ground, straining to move through the mud and around the obstacles while still keeping pace. He eventually stopped to look around, and saw that they were standing at the last row of tents. Riba had disappeared into the forest, yet Neji had remained.

"I suggest that you get out of my way, because I have no intention of leaving Riba's side any longer then absolutely necessary," Kakashi said viciously.

"She is far more capable of traversing the forest then you are, therefore, you have a moment for a short discussion."

"A short discussion?"

Neji walked over to the nearest tent and pulled back the slimy flap, "very short, I assure you."

Kakashi paused, the better part of his logic encouraged him to ignore the young Hyuuga and escort Riba back to the field medical facility. However, Neji was unfortunately correct that Riba seemed more capable of traversing the area than him. He walked through the small opening while attempting to avoid contact with any of the tent's surfaces. It would have been more suited as a torture chamber than living quarters. The fungus had obviously hit there the hardest. Movement was visible on the surface of the blood soaked fungus as maggots and other such creatures feed on the putrid nutrients within.

"Welcome to the Reject Cage Copy-ninja," Neji mocked.

Kakashi smiled, displaying his customary eye crease, "why thank you Hyuuga! Now would you care to discuss why we're standing in a fucking tent?"

Neji's stoic features morphed instantly into a dark grin, "you know why."

Kakahi's smile vanished and was quickly replaced by the stone cold glare that he reserved for his worst enemies,"it may not be your fault that my friends will now only find employment in a freak show, but it is your fault that Riba is one of them."

"Is it really? If you were so concerned with her well-being, why didn't you come here months ago? I was told stories of your bravery, always being the first to volunteer for combat, so please excuse my surprise at your choice to cower in _after_ the battle was won."

Kakashi started silently at Neji. Somehow the war had disfigured more than just his body. Any trace of nobility dissipated once he was out of the public eye. The war had been dirty business, and its participants had altered in response. He had seen it in every war-torn village he had ever been assigned to. Eventually the inhabitants would realize that to defeat their enemy, they would have to think and act like their enemy, until they eventually became their enemy_._

"You will have one warning only. Get out of my way and stay the fuck away from her, or maybe I will replace my other eye with one of yours," Kakashi sneered.

Neji remained unfazed, typical of someone who had faced torture and death enough to no longer be frightened by it, "and what do you plan to do then? You're not her guard."

"And neither are you. If the war is over, then so is your temporary position."

"Are you sure? How do you know that I haven't been promoted? Riba and I have become very close. Closer than I imagine you would be comfortable with."

Kakashi feigned a sigh and lowered his head, slowly moving his hand over his face in a gesture normally interpreted as rubbing one's forehead. His intentions, of course, were not so genuine. One swift movement was all it would take to remove his hitae-ate and use his Mangekyou Sharingan to implode the Hyuuga's heart within its chest.

Neji watched him carefully, "now Kakashi, you know better. If you kill me, no one in Konoha will come to your defense. I do hope that you weren't planing to depend on the testimony of the Northern Fifty as to my mental state. We have become close these past years and our comradely is exceptional. The elders would hang you for killing a member of such a prestigious family as mine, but maybe you have come to terms with your more treasonous side. The elders have no way of knowing that you haven't engaged in treasonous acts every night with Riba. In that light, killing me would provide great evidence in depicting you as a jealous lover." Neji's grin widened as Kakashi's hand froze in place,"You know that I'm right Copy-ninja, so I suggest that you enjoy your stay in our cage, and while you're at it, stay the fuck out of our way. You have no place playing with the Hyuuga."

Neji turned to leave, pushing the tent flap out of his way as Kakashi moved swiftly to his back and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder, "she's not a Hyuuga."

He turned just enough to cast a sideways glance, "I believe that she is, just not as much as I. What has her Uchiha blood done for her? It is no more than a small detriment that can be overlooked in favor of her Hyuuga half. Either way, she belongs to the the Hyuuga and Uindo, neither of which you're a member of."

"She _belongs_ to no one," Kakashi corrected.

"Apparently you don't understand how the prestigious clans work. Mark my words, we will always have priority over her. Not by force, but by her own choice. You've chosen to keep her at a distance, so she came to me, a Hyuuga. I wonder who she'll favor next..."


	11. Hope from the Shadows

Disclaimer: If I ever purchase the rights to Naruto, you will be the second to know.

…

A cold breeze hailed the coming of the dark shinobi. Within a matter of minutes; the population of the field medical facility had almost doubled. Kakashi, of course, had recognized the new comers immediately as medics from Uindo.

Somehow, with all the shock and trauma from the discovery of the Northern Fifty, he had managed to forget that Riba's people were masters of medical reconstruction. To them, repairing a damaged living body was no different than reconstructing a dead body for resurrection. Each shinobi that was released from the Uindo medic's care seemed to be equal in appearance, or better, than before the war. Their transformation left everyone stunned and relieved.

While his fellow shinobi drank, danced, and in various other ways celebrated the amazing accomplishments of the Northern Fifty, Kakashi remained alone in the make-shift meeting tent looking over a large wooden table that was covered in photographs. Upon the Uindo medic's request, hundreds of pictures had been submitted by Konoha's Surveillance Department. At the same table that Kakashi now sat, teams of medics had spent hours examining the minutest details in every photograph, preparing for the surgeries they were about to perform.

He leaned forward, resting his head in his hands. Only two of the Northern Fifty had yet to emerge from the restricted area the medics worked in.

He stood from the table with purpose, and stormed out of the tent in need of a walk. The same thoughts turned over and over in his mind. Maybe he could convince her to reject Neji now that his temporary position had expired, and return to the Uchiha compound. Maybe he could find a basement inside of one of the abandoned Uchiha mansions and nurse her back to health outside the prying eyes of the public, and the elders.

Everyone in the compound seemed to be in such high spirits. The sun had set, and most of the shinobi had crowded around a bonfire. Conversation flowed about the end of the war, the victory of Konohagakure, and the wondrous abilities of the Uindo medical teams.

He wandered aimlessly over to a shed that held showering facilities, and a small alcove that held personal belongings while the item's owners were bathing. A dark piece of metal sat awkwardly on the ground, appearing to have fallen from the shelves. He reached down and picked it up. It was heavier than he expected, yet familiar to the touch. He recognized it as a sheath of very high quality. It was smooth and cool, like a sheet of glass. He reached for the hilt and began to pull out the blade. In an instant the flickering of the distant bonfire reflected off the metal's surface and flashed in his eyes. He immediately look up at the shed, trying to regain his night vision, the dull wood soothing to his newly strained eyes.

As he regained focus, he caught a glimpse of movement from a small space between two poorly placed boards. He positioned his head in line with the crack and strained to see the flesh-colored mound sitting under a steamy, make shift, shower head.

The repaired couple sat silently as the water passed over their flawless bodies. A gentle hand pulled and twisted the few remaining out-of-place scales on Riba's pale skin. She was sitting in someone's lap, unmoving under the warm water. Her face looked soft compared to the hard chest it rested against.

Kakashi pressed his head firmly against the flimsy boards, straining to get a better view of the man who was sitting cross-legged in the bottom of the shower holding her. Neji's kind and gentle movements seemed like a pathetic façade given his performance at the Northern Fifty base. And yet, Kakashi remained frozen, transfixed by the watchmaker like precession of Neji's hands as he twisted her scales at the exact angle needed for them to slide back underneath her skin.

His heart beat quickened as he realized that they had almost certainly been in that position numerous times over the years. He struggled to pull himself away, only to come face to face with another silent voyeur.

"It would seem that your emotions are overriding your finally honed perceptive abilities. I'll bet that I'm the only person ever to sneak up on the elusive Copy-ninja."

Kakashi sneered, growling out his words, "so kind of you to deliver yourself to me Kabuto, I was just looking for someone to kill."

"Kill me? Now that is not the way to treat a guest. Had I known that Konoha planed to kill me, I would have turned down the invitation."

Kakashi's arm shot out with blinding speed to catch the kunai he had thrown while Kabuto was mid sentence. The traitor's words could be a semi-clever ruse, however, killing him five minutes from now wouldn't make him any less dead.

"So, what information are you going to harass me with?" Kakashi said calmly.

"Harasses you? Now why would I do something like that?"

"You wouldn't bother to be here unless you knew something that at least semi-involved me."

"Nonsense, you're merely the man who happens to be blocking my path to the couple cuddling naked in the shower. The ones you were visibly stalking."

"You understand that I can't allow a traitor, such as yourself, anywhere near an ANBU captain."

"And you understand that though you, and the rest of Konoha, may see me as a traitor, I have done nothing to betray Uindo or my Dark Wind Sovereign," He said arrogantly.

"Can we get to the point in this conversation where you explain why you left the temporary safety of Orochimaru's shit hole hiding place, wherever it may be, to come to the victorious country's compound?"

"Hyuuga and Uchiha are rather worthless to Konoha without their eyes, are they not?"

Kakashi instantly understood the insinuation. Riba's blind and weakened state made her useless, so obviously Konoha needed her repaired in a hurry.

Kabuto grinned, "maybe I was being overly generous when I claimed that I have no information to harass you with."

"So you do have information for me..."

"Not I dear Copy Ninja, not I. However, you may want to seek out Tsunade." A cloud of smoke surrounded Kabuto's sudden departure, leaving Kakashi standing alone. He was now tracking Kabuto's chakra and the traitor was indeed moving towards the medical area.

…

Tsunade stared at Kakashi with tired eyes across the photograph strewn table, "Kabuto wasn't deceiving you. He's here to perform surgery on Riba. Apparently he was responsible for treating and maintaining Sasuke's eyes while he in the service of Orochimaru. He has a more intimate knowledge of Uchiha specific biology than anyone who is alive today. I had to decide whether to allow a Konoha defector to operate on Riba or sentence her to a life of blindness. I stand by my decision."

"I fail to see how I am, in any way, involved in this..."

Tsunade leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table, "I have a very urgent mission which involves you leaving immediately. You are to return to Konoha, gather any supplies you need, and be ready for departure the next morning. You will then proceed to the northwest border, where you will locate a camp of Rain shinobi. Our reconnaissance suggests that they used the confusion generated by the war to sneak into the Fire Country with the purpose of mapping the location and movement of our border guards. The last thing that we need right now is an invasion from the Hidden Rain. Cleanly assassinate the invaders and dispose of their bodies in whatever way necessary to make sure that they will never be found."

"How many are there?"

"Five at most, three at least"

"_Northwest_ is a rather vague description. You do realize that if this is all the information you can offer me, finding the Rain shinobi will take quite some time."

"You will be provided with a guide. Riba will meet you at the west gate at four thirty the morning that you leave. She stumbled across the encampment herself in her final days at the Northern Base and will lead you straight to them."

"Riba is blind. Exactly how is she going to lead me anywhere?"

"If all goes as planed, her vision will be at least semi-restored by then."

"I'm sorry Tsunade, but loyal soldier that I am, I can't agree with your decision to send a person who may be blind, and is so emotionally and physically damaged that she may not even survive the trip, to go with me on this mission."

Tsunade's glared at his blatant defiance, "she's the only person who knows exactly where the camp is located. If it was out in the open I would just mark the place on a map and send you on your way, but the Rain shinobi are too clever for that. Apparently they can only be found by someone who already knows where to look. I don't care if you have to carry her, she's going."


	12. One Night

Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto.

…

Kakashi sat in the loneliest seat in the darkest corner of The Little Boxer and forced down his seventh (possibly his twenty-seventh but he wasn't counting) glass of the strongest and most putrid of Konoha's exotic liquors. After all, if he was going to do the one thing he had promised himself he would never do, he was going to do it right.

That was, of course, getting completely smashed the night before a deadly mission.

He fixated on the liquid in his grimy glass as he pondered the injustice of the sixteen year disaster that had begun with Riba's arrival. It all came down to politics. The elders lived by their rules, and the rules created the structure that made the people of Konoha feel safe. When situations arose that did not fit within the neat and tidy confines of the law? He chuckled, "Then the exceptions were eliminated."

Konoha was willing to uphold the law no matter how desperate the situation, just so they could say that the law existed unbroken. Just so they could feel comfortable in the fact that their laws were so solid and well-respected that nothing could tarnish them. They didn't care whose lives were ruined in the process. Had exceptions been made, the secret mission that he and Obito took to save Rin could have been made public, and they would have had reinforcements that could have prevented Obito's death. Riba and the Norther Fifty were just the latest victims of a flawed system.

The law against fraternization between students and teachers, in particular, was made to protect pre-teens from lecherous old shinobi, not the unique case of a teacher and student who were less than three years apart. What damage would an exception have honestly caused? He was never much of a conspiracy theorist, but the turn that his life had taken, and the ingestion of enough alcohol to kill a small elephant, certainly made it look like the world was against him.

Of course, he took his share of the blame. It had been his decision to keep the meeting with the elders a secret. It seemed like a good idea at the time to exclude a few key bits of information that would keep the two of them from looking suspicious. After all, how can someone look like they're hiding something if they don't know that they have anything to hide?

However, she was no longer the little girl he had once trained. She was the leader of a vast shinobi army, an ANBU captain, a national war hero, and probably more capable of covering up their past and keeping a secret than him, since apparently all of their mutual friends had analyzed _his_ actions and figured out that they had a history together.

Feeling sorry for himself was not something that he took much comfort it. What he really needed was something to take his mind off of the horrors he had witnessed at the Northern Base long enough for him to complete his mission. He slammed his glass down on the greasy table, waiting patiently for the barmaid to full it yet again with whatever slop they had sitting around that no one else was brave enough to drink.

High pitched banter was coming from whoever had moved into his general vicinity. As far as he was concerned, it was just more useless noise to fill his already strained senses. The person standing next to his chair was the only other soul in the desolate bar. He focused intensely on the intruder of his personal space, trying to overcome his blurry alcohol tainted resolution. As she slowly came into focus, he shuttered at the realization that it was probably Riba. She appeared to be a bit less curvy than he remembered, which was probably understandable for someone who had lived at the Northern Base.

He sighed. He was far too intoxicated to confess his myriad of lies and screw-ups, however, would be happy to offer her a place at his table. The least he could do was buy her a few drinks and soak up the glorious company that she provided, if she wasn't mentally demented beyond all recognition of course. Even then, he would have to join her on the path to recovery eventually anyway, because he sure as hell wasn't going to let her do it alone, or worse, with the Hyuuga. He leaned back in his chair and let her voice seep into his cloudy brain.

"…You don't look so good…are you alright?" She asked.

"I am now. How about you have a drink with me," he said nonchalantly.

As she sat down in the chair across from him, his senses were alerted to something suspicious. Riba always sat as a Sovereign, with grace and charm. This person, however, was slumping into the chair with legs spread as if it were a couch. He leaned over the table to get a closer look. She did look remarkably like Riba. Sure her hair was only a single shade of auburn, her eyes were much closer to brown than gold, and she lacked some of Riba's slender curves, but outside of that, the resemblance was remarkable.

"Close enough," he mumbled. His thoughts glided back to Uindo. Genma had mentioned the possibility of substituting another woman for Riba. Though the idea had seemed unfeasible at the time, in his drunken stupor it suddenly appeared to be the only good idea that his senbon fixated friend had ever suggested.

He pushed his glass as far away as the sticky table would allow, and folded his hands in its place, "and who would you happen to be?"

The women giggled in an attempt at sounding coy, but only succeeded in sounding sluttish, "Yuuwaku."

"Ah, you're a server at this bar then?"

"Yes, I've been serving you for almost four years…"

"I realize that my dear. I'm a master shinobi, just because I don't react to someone's presences doesn't mean I don't notice them. Quite the contrary, I notice every detail." He grinned triumphantly under his mask. It was an exaggeration perhaps, but it sounded good, and to women like Yuuwaku all you needed to do was look and sound good and the rest came easy.

…

Light was shining threw the window onto Kakashi's eyelids; too bright and annoying to ignore. He rolled over and pulled his blankets over his head and groaned. Somehow "hangover" didn't feel like a strong enough word to describe his pain. Worse, he knew that eventually his alarm clock would go off and he would have to leave for his dreaded mission.

"...bright...light," He whined to himself. His chest began to tense. It was normally still dark at four in the morning. He sprang out of bed and reached for his alarm clock. The shining red numbers indicated that it was well past two in the afternoon. He fell back onto the bed in shock, staring at them as if they were a figment of his imagination.

Panic never lasted long for a shinobi, years of training in critical thinking skills quickly override it. He stood up, set the clock on his end table, and picked up his mask from the floor beside his bed. The fact that it was no longer on his face was horrifying in itself.

The only sound in the apartment besides his labored breathing was that of running water. He walked into the bathroom, slipping on his mask while trying to stay calm. He grabbed the shower curtain and took a deep breath before jerking it open.

"What the fuck did you do to my alarm clock?" He growled.

She smiled coyly, "your alarm clock is loud and I never get up before eight…"

Before she could finish, Kakashi grabbed her collar-bone and pulled her sopping wet body inches from his face. His mismatched eyes were cold and empty, "your decision may have killed a person today" He squeezed the bone tight enough to make her yelp and wince from the pain, "you had better not be here when I return."

…

The hospital was unusually crowded. The Ferocious Five, Neji, and a full surgical staff were waiting in the tightly packed space outside of room 124A, where Riba was being held.

Kakashi attempted to push through, but was quickly stopped by Shian's lithe hands, "Tsunade is in there now, Riba has refused to see anyone else."

Possible scenarios played out in his mind. Each had a different ending, but began the same way. Riba went to the west gate at four thirty in the morning. At some point, when it became apparent that he wasn't going to show up, she went to his apartment. He would have remembered someone knocking on the door, so she must have went to the window instead. The curtains were left open or he wouldn't have been awoken by the midday sun. This meant that she saw him in bed with a woman, and became so angry she decided that she would rather risk death and complete the mission herself then ever see him again.

He was pondering leaving for the memorial when Tsunade slid threw the door into the tightly packed hallway, stopping only to whisper to Kakashi in a sympathetic tone, "I'm deeply sorry about the outcome of the mission, but I assure you that she will begin to recover in the next seventy-two hours. Make sure that you turn this in before tomorrow."

She pushed past him while slipping something into his hands. He slid back through the hall and around the corner, before opening up the plane manila folder. Exactly as he would have predicted, there was a mission report inside. He quickly scanned the papers, simultaneously overjoyed that she was alive and praying that what he was about to turn in to ANBU headquarters would not grant him a deserter's death sentence.

For someone so honest, she told exceptional lies. She had integrated him into her report in a way that was complete and irrefutable, leaving no room for doubt about his whereabouts that day. If it hadn't been about him, he would have believed it himself. According to her; they had both left Konoha at the assigned time and proceeded to the Rain encampment. Unfortunately, the Rain shinobi had detected their presence and used an unknown Jutsu to disable Kakashi's motor functions. In the confusion, Riba had charged a special senbon, made from Uindo's charka conductive steel, and pierced each of Rain shinobi in the heart, releasing her chakra into their veins. Her newest Jutsu, _Game of Death,_ set each shinobi on a biological timer that was controlled by her heartbeat. The timer randomly caused her chakra to explode and burn one of the shinobi to death every two minutes until either one person was left standing or Riba was randomly selected and killed herself. The Rain shinobi were so distracted by the random combustions that they scattered, leaving Kakashi to recover and wait by her side until the Jutsu had completed. By chance, she had won the game of Russian roulette.

She could be exiled or thrown in jail for falsifying a mission report. It would have been safer for her to turned him in for missing a mission, especially after seeing that he failed to show up because he was busy sleeping around, but that was not her way. She preserved their friendship first and foremost. He grinned with appreciation as he turned to the last page and found a perfectly forged version of his signature, and strained to remember when she had used her Sharingan to copy it.

He held up the paper to inspect it and a small note slipped out and fell on the floor. All it contained was a set of coordinates, a date, and a time.

…

The closer he got to the meeting place, the more her chakra came into focus. The cool dark aura that defined her presence directed him to her exact location. She sat with her back to him against a tree, facing a small circular clearing. His breath quickened in anticipation as he walked over and sat down beside her.

Few things ever changed when it came to Riba's appearance. She dressed in the same short Uchiha jumpsuit and black stockings. The gloves and hitai-ate he had given her years ago were in remarkably good condition considering all that they had been through. The only indications that she had just been sent home from a war was her exceptionally short hair and an odd tattoo on her arm.

She picked up her well-worn, yet meticulously maintained, sword along with a small wooden box from her lap and set them on the ground. "Its been a while," she said stoically.

"Its been a long while," he gently traced her tattoo as he ran his hand down her arm, "I like the new one."

"You may be seeing many more like it around Konoha."

He leaned over and examined the finely inked image while breathing in her subtle jasmine scent, "the character for north surrounded by a circle of fifty dots. The Northern Fifty? Simple and appropriate if not original."

She grinned and continued to look around the clearing.

Kakashi sighed, "I guess we'll be skipping the small talk. I must warn you that I have a great deal to say."

"And I must warn you that you have a limited time in which to say it."

He took a deep breath and steeled himself. It was finally time to reveal all and apologize for the downward spiral of lies and deception, "then I will be direct. As Konoha law reads, you are still my student. Therefore, upon your return to Konoha and completion of the Jounin exams, I was called in by the elders. They threatened my life if I was to do anything inappropriate with you. They had photos that, while not damming, were implicating. In light of that, I made the decision to keep the meeting a secret from you. At the time, I felt that if I were to reveal the elders concerns, that knowledge would cause you to act more suspiciously then if you simply acted out of blissful ignorance."

"So basically, you didn't trust my ability to control my emotions and handle the situation, and chose to lie by omission, " she clarified.

"That is in no way how I feel."

"Then why is your explanation so obviously condescending?"

"Condescending?"

"Your reasoning assumes that I would be unable to keep myself from...what? Looking specious? Sleeping with you? You aren't _that_ irresistible, and I'm not some random untrained woman who can't control her feelings and action," she snapped.

Kakashi winced, "Your right, I treated you like a child instead of an accomplished shinobi. I made a foolish mistake and covered it up for years. I then made it worse by succumbing to my frustration and becoming so intoxicated that I slept with a barmaid and missed the mission. Please understand that I am not trying to create excuses, only explain. Had you died due to my indiscretions then I would never have forgiven myself."

"...what Barmaid?"

"The one that works at The Little Boxer, you didn't recognize her?"

She suddenly became stern, more so then he was used to, "I didn't know about her. How would I? I don't know where you live. Actually I assumed that you had been injured or rendered unconscious, as that was the only reason I could come up with for why the dependable Copy Ninja would miss a mission. Apparently, I have my privileged boys and you have your barmaids."

Kakashi's chest instantly tightened as he recalled night they kissed at the bar. He had gotten so drunk that she had carried him to_ her_ home, because she had never been to his.

"Now I'm sure I made the correct decision. I'm leaving Konoha on a mission given to me by the elders. This conversation is over...they're almost here," she said as she stood up.

He focused his senses. She was right, there were people coming, but they were still a distance away. He tried to turn his head in their direction but found it too heavy to move. All he could manage was to look to the sideways with his peripheral vision. He strained to grunt out, "Genjutsu?"

She grinned, "yes, but not of my creation. I'm certainly not talented enough to fool your perceptive eye."

The group finally came into view at the opposite edge of the clearing as they leapt down from the trees and began to walk over. The red clouds that adorned their black cloaks were unmistakable.

Kakashi struggled to move until Riba gently laid her hand on his shoulder, "It is alright. Everything is going exactly as planed. If you want to help then keep an eye on the Ferocious Five. Tell them that Kurenai is their captain now."

She picked up her sword and wooden box from the ground and stood silently until the nine Akatsuki members had assembled before her, "I am Uchiha Uindo Riba, Sovereign of the Dark Winds, ANBU captain, and the legendary five tailed bijuu. After much negotiation, the elders of Konoha and Uindo have agreed to your terms. I will join you of my own free will in exchange for a truce between the Akatsuki and the lands of Fire and Dark Wind. I will serve as you command with the stipulation that I will not be sealed inside of another being and will not be asked to attack any member of my home nations. Any attack by the Akatsuki on Uindo or Konohagakure will forfeit the treaty. Do we have an agreement?"

Kakashi strained but got only a blurry glance at the red-haired man who walked up to her. "I'm Pain of the Akatsuki. We will accept the proposal as discussed, if you agree to my personal terms."

She smiled politely, "what would my new commander have me do that has not already been discussed?"

"For our own safety, we must require that you remain with an Akatsuki member, who we will select, at all times. This rule is not to be broken unless I tell you otherwise. Are we in agreement?"

"Your proposal is acceptable. As a token of gratitude, Konoha would like to offer you this gift."

She opened the small wooden box and handed it to Pain. He grinned, "I have no doubt that you will make a better criminal than shinobi. We are very happy to have our rings returned to us."

He reached inside the box and searched through the collection. Eventually, he handed one to her, "this ring once belonged to Orochimaru. It now belongs to you. Welcome to the Akatsuki."

She bowed and turned to Kakashi, "the elders are waiting for confirmation that the trade went smoothly. Please tell them immediately upon your return."

He watched the Akatsuki move across the clearing, and heard nothing except Pain's parting words, "Itachi, would you please escort her."

…

He awoke on the forest floor with an unbearable headache and no idea how long he had been unconscious. He stood up and leaned against the nearest tree and tried to reorient himself with his surroundings.

It was the worst case scenario, not only had she not forgiven him, but had left the village to join an infamously destructive criminal organization. He began to tense in anger as he realized that the elders had just sacrificed her, and his actions had pushed her to agree to it.

The elders hadn't ruined her life, he had. He could feel his conviction fading as the gravity of the situation set in. He saw her as the greatest woman he had ever known. Worth more than anyone in Konoha could ever appreciate, and far more than his stubbornness and arrogant pride...or loyalty.

The elders had pushed him from anger to desperation. He began to walk through the forest, knowing full well that by the time he reached Konoha, he would be a different man, one guilty of treason.

He preformed his summoning seals and greeted his small pug with a serious nod, "Pakkun, do you know a man named Danzou? I have a message that I would like you to deliver."


	13. Akatsuki

Disclaimer: As always, I own Uindo not Naruto.

...

Kakashi's confession reiterated in her mind; increasing her anger each time she reviewed it. She marveled at the fact that he had managed to turn a minor event into an obsession.

Why should the elder's threats matter in the first place? He had never given her any reason to suspect that he saw her as anything but a dear friend. Admittedly there had always been a certain level of sexual tension between them, but in a city where young, intelligent, gorgeous, shinobi roamed freely, it would certainly not have been uncommon. Konoha was practically dripping with desire. Yet, Kakashi had concocted a complex lie to keep her from...what exactly? Humping his leg like a hormone raging Genin? Giggling like a five-year old over a nonexistent secret? Proclaiming undying love? How disturbingly arrogant.

His lie of omission was disturbing, but what stung the most was the total lack of respect that it encompassed. He obviously had no concept of the vast power she wielded. Even if they _had_ developed some type of pseudo relationship, she had hundreds of pawns and bargaining chips available to appease the elders with. Hell, a simple "give me Hatake and Uindo will continue to keep the village of the Hidden Cloud from trampling northern Konoha" would probably have been enough. After all, veiled threats were an ever-present tool in any Sovereign's arsenal. Yet, he had ignored that evidence in favor of fiction, obviously forgetting that life wasn't the newest edition of Icha Icha.

She had held him in high regard and looked up to him since childhood. It was all so disappointing. As far as she was concerned, he was a stubborn and arrogant man with poor self-control who had almost gotten her killed. Even if he meant well, he had still treated her atrociously. The noble part of her want to understand and forgive, but her pride and dignity was forcing her to steel herself and move on.

The distant sound of a branch breaking under foot broke her train of thought. She turned around just in time to see Kisame approaching. He waved and shouted, "come to the kitchen, it's time."

...

Itachi's compound had not failed to impress her in either scene or construction. It was buried inside of a seemingly untraversable forest that lay against the vertical slope of a mountain. The compound itself was enclosed by a twenty-foot high stone wall that created a half circle against the mountain's side. The inside had been cleared of foliage, with the exception of a large tree that stood almost directly in its center. The forest was so dense that only a few rays of light managed to penetrate and shine onto the ground below.

A small cave-like hole opened into a long hallway that lead deep inside the mountain's interior. It was well cut and polished out of the surrounding stone, so much so that the light from a single candle reflected efficiently enough to dimly illuminate the dark interior. The first two rooms were a small kitchen on the left and a bathroom on the right. Further down was Kisame's bedroom and across from it was an equally large room that had been hastily furnished for Riba. Not ten feet away, at the end of the hall, was Itachi's room.

She walked into the kitchen. The room contained nothing but a few cabinets, an icebox, a stove, and a table with a bench on either side, built from the same dull swamp wood that surrounded the compound. She took a seat and began to rest her hands on the table just as Kisame walked in. He stepped between the table and wall and stared down at her back, "where do you want this?"

She unzipped her Uchiha jumpsuit and pulled the collar down over her shoulders, exposing her chakra filled tattoos, "anywhere there's space."

"Do you care what it looks like?"

She glared over her shoulder, "if you tattoo your name on my body, god help you…"

He chuckled as he dug around in the pocket of his cloud speckled coat and eventually retrieved a coin. He centred it on the back of her neck and began to slowly trace its outline with a small ink filled needle, forming a perfect ring.

"Interesting choice Kisame. I do like my circles."

"So our spies have told us." He sat down on the bench opposite her, "Itachi will come and activate it in a minute. From then on, you're his."

"That is a little dramatic. I could always have the skin surgically removed."

He grinned as Itachi emerged from the hallway, "...or you could just kill him."

Unfazed by Kisame's attempt at humor, Itachi walked to Riba's back and gently placed his hand over the tattoo, filling it with his warm chakra. "I will always know where you are. Keep that in mind," he said as he pulled a dark ball of fabric from under his coat and unceremoniously threw it onto the table. He then gliding through the doorway, and disappeared into the hall.

She pulled the cloth to her side and unravelled the Akatsuki coat.

Kisame laughed, "welcome to the team! It doesn't pay much but the benefits are outstanding."

...

The exciting stories that were told to her as a child had always highlighted the most extreme moments in a criminal's life, and failed to account for all the down time in between. She quickly found that the majority of her time was hers to spend as she chose.

Though she had originally assumed that she would never relate to criminals, she inadvertently forged an unusual friendship with Kisame. He had a biting wit that was at minimum crude. However, he also possessed talent as a swordsman that rivalled the very best that she had ever witnessed, and thus proved to be an exceptional sparing partner.

This day, not unlike every other, they had spent joking and training in the court yard, and drinking sake in the kitchen.

Kisame watched as she picked up the sake bottles, one by one, from the pile they had created and shook them over her empty glass, searching for any remaining liquor. He picked up his glass and dumped half of his sake into her's, "you know, I had always pictured you as Konoha's altruistic freedom fighter. A good girl who was going to spend her time trying to convert us to a righteous path. Now, I just think that you've finally found your way home."

She finished off the last of her drink as Kisame leaned across the table and whispered, "I have a questions for you, not for the Akatsuki, but my own curiosity..."

"And it would be?"

"Why hasn't anyone ever seen you as a bijuu?"

She lowered her voice to match his, "what do you mean? I am a bijuu no matter what form I take."

"No, I mean, why don't you just become a dragon and incinerate anyone who stands in your way?"

"Ah yes. You see, the elders of Uindo transformed me into my human form. If I change back into a five tailed dragon, then I can't get back into human form again without intervention. It could take months, or even years. Nothing about the process is simple or quick."

"So is that why you didn't slay the Konoha elders?"

"Why the hell would I want to do that?"

"You know, the Kakashi thing. We have spies everywhere in that city. I heard that they were really rough on you two a few years back, and things were never same between you since."

She sighed an shook her head, "all they did is tell us not to screw around. I handled it by moving on, Kakashi handled it by creating a fantasy crisis and keeping it a secret from me. He's a brilliant man, but I think his time as a Konoha Jounin caused him to overestimate the elder's power."

"Couldn't they execute him for fraternizing with his student?"

"Yes, if they wanted to make an example of him. However, there were other possible outcomes. I could have tried to use my political leverage. Though, that kind of maneuver would have taken years of planing and subterfuge, but at least it would have been better than hiding." Riba groaned, "is it getting hot in here?"

"The stove is off, are you sure that you're just not really drunk?"

"No, that's not it," she swiftly grabbed the nearest bottle and stared at her reflection in its condensation covered surface.

Kisame scooted around the table and sat beside her, "I don't see anything but glass."

She squinted, "my eyes are part Hyuuga as well as Uchiha."

"So what? You're stronger than both?"

"Weaker actually. I can only see vague chakra clouds. Nothing even close to the precision of my Hyuuga counterparts," She stared fiercely at the glass, studying the reflected chakra emanating from her body. "There was blue chakra entering my brain a second ago..."

"I am pretty sure that there's blue chakra in everyone's brain."

"Not everyone, mine is black. Someone else was in here with me."

Kisame turned to face the general direction of Itachi's room, and shouted, "we were just talking about Kakashi. Seriously, it's not big deal."

She threw the bottle back onto the pile, "how do you know it was Itachi?"

"Who else could it have been? Though, I didn't know that he could do that. Do you think he can hear or see us through you?"

"I'm not sure, but knowing how the Sharingan works, I would imagine that he was reviewing my thoughts, not my senses."

They waited, listening to see if Itachi would bother to respond. The answer was muffled. He obviously saw no reason to get out of bed or attempt to defend his mental intrusion, "...tell her about the dinner."

Kisame stammered, "oh shit yes! The rest of the Akatsuki are convening here tomorrow. Consider it a business party." As he spoke, he slowly ripped a label from the nearest sake bottle and took a pen from his coat pocket. On the back he scribbled a short note and stuffed it into her hand before leaving for bed.

She calmly went to her room, watching as Kisame entered his a few seconds before her while glaring at her out of the corner of his eye. She closed her bedroom door and put her back against it as she uncrumpled and smoothed out the damp label, straining to read Kisame's hastily written handwriting:

_Alcohol masks the warmth of his chakra._

_This was a test._

_He will wait until the dinner._

_Be ready._

...

Riba stumbled through the dense forest and across a clearing to a pile of large packages that had been left at the drop point by merchants from the nearest town, fulfilling Itachi's food and sake order. She smirked as she took off her Akatsuki coat and used it as a makeshift sack to carry the load.

She lugged the pack into the compound and past the tree at its center where Itachi was calmly leaning. Kisame promptly emerged from within the mountain, grabbed the pack off of her back, and dropped it onto a large banquet table that had been set up next to the mountain's side, far enough away from the semi-circular wall to decrease the possibility of an ambush.

Itachi began to walk towards the underground entrance, but not before Riba caught his eye.

"Nice try young man," she teased.

He disappeared into the depths of the mountain without bothering to respond. The silence was immediately disturbed by Kisame tearing open packages and placing the contents on the table, "I think you irritated him, though I don't see how."

She grabbed the nearest box and began to unwrap a bottle of sake, "he had his Sharingan activated when I returned. Maybe he thought I would use Hiraishin no Jutsu to teleport back, which could be why he sent me in the first place."

"If he wanted to copy Hiraishin no Jutsu, then why didn't he just ask? I was under the impression that the two of you were very close friends when you were young."

"Close friends? Who told you that?"

"He did."

"I am not sure if _close_ is the word I would use..."

He finished unpacking the last package and set its contents, sliced apples, on the table, "you were kept separate by Kakashi. He mentioned that as well. I thought that implied that you two were, you know, interested."

"There is a six year age difference between us. He was more like a brother."

"I doubt that he sees it that way. Obsessing over an older, attractive, powerful woman is something that most boys engage in. Some even continue it into adulthood."

"Possibly, though either way, he is just another pretty face to me. I knew him as a child, not a man. He's a different person now."

He chuckled sarcastically, "oh, so you think he's pretty? There's _no way_ that this could go horribly wrong..."

"This isn't a joke. He and I have a complicated past, and present."

"And unfinished business?"

"None that I plan to tell you about.."

He reached under his coat, and pulled out a ball of dark red fabric, "put it on, this is a formal event."

She unrolled the fabric and surveyed the long and unusually seductive dress, "where did you get this?"

"A dead woman in town, a hooker I think."

"A hooker? You got this off of a dead hooker and you want me wear it?!"

"It was an expensive hooker..."

"...fine...fine...I suppose it's part of the job. Turn around so I can put this damn thing on."

"Sure you wouldn't like a little help? I would be happy to help you...slowly..." he purred.

"Turn your ass around," she snapped.

He turned and rested his head against the mountain slope, listening to the rustling of fabric as Riba slid off her Uchiha jumpsuit and climbed into the dress, "are you finished? Can I turn around without facing a stream of black fire?"

"..."

"Riba?"

"...Kisame...I think that I was a bit hasty in turning down your offer of assistance..."

His forehead jolted off stone ,"are you serious?"

"I can't zip it up."

He slowly turned to see her bare back half exposed through the unzipped dress.

"It's too tight, she must have been an extremely thin hooker," she said sheepishly.

"Um...ok, just come over here and lean up against the mountain with your back facing me."

"Excuse me?"

"Listen, I am fully aware of who and what you are. You can feel free to kill me if I fuck with you."

She hobbled over to the mountain and pressed her hands and body against its cool surface. Kisame stood behind and placed a leg on each side of her, pushing the both of them against the stone. He placed one hand on the mountain, near her face, and the other on the zipper at the small of her back, and pulled with a series of quick forceful tugs that shook their bodies simultaneously against each other.

He grinned as he reached the zipper's half way point, "is Itachi in your mind right now? He might want to see this."

"No, I would be able to feel the warmth of his chakra inside me if he was."

"Oh yes, I'm sure that his warmth inside of you is exactly what he would like you to feel."

"That's not funny Kisame."

"I'm not joking Riba."

He pressed against her body as he strained to pull the zipper tab up the last few inches, "assuming it's true that you two share Jutsu freely, he would have no need to get at your techniques through trickery. Therefore, he must have been looking for something else."nHe pulled the zipper to its apex and leaned against the stone beside her, his face inches from hers, "just make sure that you know what you're getting into, or whats getting into you. You're the only Akatsuki I get along with. If your past comes back to haunt you, I'll have no one to drink with."

"I left my past in Konoha," she whispered

"Yes, but has your past left you? Our spies tell us that there are men in Konoha who were sad to see you leave. If they were to find their way here tonight, or tomorrow, or the next day, what would they find? Things could get messy if you're not alone and a visitor comes calling."

"You assume that Itachi and I..."

"Yes, I do," he interrupted, "you two have a past, and nothing to lose by indulging yourselves. And if you don't, or if he is not what you remember him to be...well...you know where my room is. You're always welcome."

Before she could protest, he reached down and picked up the strewn bits of paper and boxes and carried them into the mountain passage, disappearing from sight.

...

Kisame had been too kind in calling it a business dinner. It was more of a formal drinking party. They drank copious amounts of sake and spoke highly of the Akatsuki as well as their own exaggerated achievements. Riba and Kisame had sat at the far end of the table in an attempt to be as far away from Hidan, who seemed to get louder with each drink, as possible. Itachi sat with Pain and the leader of the Akatsuki, Madara. However, as the evening wore on, he opted to escape the rowdier end of the table by feigning an interest in talking with Kisame and purposely said nothing worth mentioning.

Riba reached across the table to get rice from the communal silver serving dish, an attempt to soften the blow on her stomach from the influx of alcohol. She marvelled at the mismatched dinning ware, obvious loot from past missions against wealthy victims, and looked back just in time to see Kisame leave for the bathroom. Her eyes unconsciously drifted to Itachi.

Adrenaline began pumping through her body as her flight or flight responses activated, even before her conscious mind could process the Mangekyou Sharingan she was staring into. She reflexively reached across the table at him as her vision blurred into his Genjutsu.

She felt the heat of his chakra consume her, as the world came into focus. They stood in a desert made of hardened clay and endless gray sky, so plain that the lack of detail made the environment seem unnaturally false, even for an illusion. He stood no more than a foot away.

"What do you want?" She said firmly.

"What do you have?"

"Jutsu that would have been yours for the asking."

He paused, "I suppose that would be worth something."

"If not Jutsu, then what do you want from Sovereign of your people?"

"Nothing...I just wanted to see what was here."

"And that's why you've used the tracking tattoo to intrude on my mind? Empty curiosity?"

"Something like that."

"In that case, I would have expected an Uchiha to create a better illusion than this."

Itachi flinched in surprise at the drop in his body temperature. Before he could react, the environment had changed to a sunny clearing, covered in small white flowers and bordered by an endless abyss, recognizable only to Riba who frequented it often.

His voice lowered in a calm yet intimidating tone, "how?"

"Physically, I am holding your hand across the table and flooding your mind and body with my chakra."

She watched as he took in the complexity of the world, slowly scanning the environment until he finally paused and stared at something in the distance. She turned to see Kakashi sitting peacefully on the edge of the endless abyss, and immediately looked back at Itachi, who was showing an uncharacteristic level of surprise. Before she could react, he had crossed the clearing. She instinctively prepared to teleport between them, but not before he was able to land a blow to Kakashi's back, sending him sailing into the abyss. His body fluttered lifelessly, like a rag doll, until he finally merged with the blackness below.

Itachi scowled, "could he see us? Could he see our thoughts?"

"No, his image is an inherent part of this environment, but he is not currently here."

It only took a few seconds for Itachi to refocus on the cold chakra that she was probing him with. The realization caused him to promptly end the Genjutsu, leaving them to stare at each other across the table. It appeared that barely any time had passed in the real word, and therefore, their mental absence had gone unnoticed.

She strained to piece together the mass of uncontextualized memories and thoughts she had absorbed from his conciseness. It was random and disorganized, however, the one image that stood out beyond all others was that of Sasuke standing over Itachi's body, broken and beaten in an unidentifiable yet brutal way. He was alive and sitting across from her, so it was obviously a prediction and not a memory.

Instantly, she grabbed his hand tightly and quickly pulled away, letting her nails drag across his flesh, spraying blood over the table. His recoil caused everyone to stop and stare.

"I'm Sorry, I think that I may have had too much to drink," she said pleasantly as she grabbed a blood soaked napkin and used it to blot up the remaining spots before leaving the table, feigning to throw it out.

As she approached the kitchen, she took a detour into her room and quickly preformed the seals for her altered form of Hiraishin no Jutsu. She remained, but the napkin disappeared.


	14. Mindless Entertainment

Disclaimer: I own Uindo not Naruto.

...

A barely audible tapping sound emanated from Riba's door. She rolled over in bed and groaned, "come in."

Kisame sped into the room and quietly sat on the edge of her bed, "holy shit! I heard that you sliced open Itachi's hand at dinner. I'm sorry that I missed it."

She sat up, "It wasn't that bad...he'll live."

"True, however, he still wants to speak to you...in his room."

She winced, "I would rather not come to blows with him."

"Unless, of course, they're below the belt?" He giggled unrepentantly.

She said as she slid out of bed and slid her Akatsuki coat over the old jumpsuit she was using as pajamas, "Kisame?"

"Yes?"

"If Itachi and I kill each other, don't even think about touching my sword. The Shadows will retrieve it at all costs."

"Now I really want it..."

...

She disintegrated and slipped in through the barely visible keyhole in Itachi's door.

The room was surprisingly extravagant. It contained furniture that was both high in quality and mismatched in style. Relics from various missions for wealthy benefactors. Itachi held out a fine china teacup, unfazed by her sudden arrival. She absorbed the strong aroma of tea and rum. Not exactly a welcome beverage after an already long night of drinking.

She smiled pleasantly, "I hope your hand is feeling better, if that's what we're here to discuss."

He slid off his Akatsuki coat, revealing his customary mesh top and dark pants, "my hand is of no consequence."

"In that case, I will dispense with the formalities and get to the point..."

"I wasn't aware that you had a point in coming here."

She finished her tea in a single long swallow and handed him back the cup, "I'm afraid that I can't allow your plan, of letting Sasuke kill you, to come to fruition. Uchiha are rare, we can't afford to lose even one more."

His voice lowered, "It all had to end sometime."

"You may feel that you deserve death, but dead or alive, I promise that you will be called upon to remedy at least some of the damage that your drastic actions have caused."

"Idle threats," he mocked as he moved closer and gently brushed her multicolored hair aide and slowly rested his lips on her neck.

She stood motionless, the awkwardness of which caused him to pulled back slightly, only to see that she was staring at him through golden Sharingan eyes.

"You don't trust me? I do hope you realize that I have nothing but the best of intentions for the Sovereign of my people."

"You have slain your people."

"But not you. You and your family didn't try to overthrow Konoha."

"You killed children."

"They would have lived to avenge the Uchiha. Look at Sasuke, he won't stop until he has burned Konoha to the ground. That is what my mercy has bought me." He paused, "do you hate me Uchiha Uindo Riba?"

"You saved thousands more than you killed. I may not agree, but I do understand."

"Really? What would you have done if the Uchiha had tried to overthrow Uindo?"

"I would have tried to save everyone."

"Yes, but what if there was no way. What if the Uchiha had to die to save Uindo?"

"There must have been a way..."

"There wasn't," he snapped.

"Then, I would have destroyed the Uchiha."

"Then you are the only person alive who actually does understand."

"I am the only person alive who knew you as a friend. I of all people should understand."

They studied each others calm Uchiha demeanor. A tranquil nature that had been absent from their lives for so long that a moment in each others presence restored a sense of comfort that they had forgotten existed. A long-awaited moment of relaxation brought on by their own kind.

He pulled off her Akatsuki coat, letting it fall in a pile around her feet.

"Itachi?"

"I don't have long to live, and have nothing to lose. Frankly, neither do you."

"Don't say that, we can't lose any more Uchiha."

His arms slid around her waist as he pulled her neck back to his lips, "then we had better make more before we go."

He pulled her gently to the floor and crawled on top of her while pulling the loose collar off her shoulders, exposing her chest. His movements slowed as he slid off her cloths and absorbed the image of her naked body.

He ran his hands up the length of her thighs, parting them just enough to slide in between, as she hooked her toes around the waist of his pants and pulled them down as she extending her legs. He twitched slightly at the sudden contact of their skin as they connected.

She pulled him tightagainst her body, forcing him deeper, "been a while young man?"

"Perhaps..."

"Perhaps you don't remember how to pleasure a woman?"

"Perhaps I've found a better way." He gently kissed her lips, barely rubbing the surface. She closed her eyes and felt the soft pressure as he whispered against her skin, "open your eyes."

Her eyes slowly drifted open and focused on his Mangekyou Sharingan. She jerked slightly at the sight, though the weight of their connected bodies kept her in place. An indescribable warmth flowed through her muscles, as if her cold chakra had melted away, and she had slipped into a warm bath.

He ran his fingers into her hair and rested them on the back of her head, "that's what it feels like to be human." He pushed forward and she shivered, suddenly feeling a tingle everywhere their skin touched. She became acutely aware of every detail of his body as he slowly stretched her farther open and pushed tighter against her, his Genjutsu heightening their senses and quickening their nerves. "And this is something I saved in case I ever got you all to myself," he said in a velvet tone.

He kissed her a final time before lifting himself on to his elbows, adding leverage to his movements. She wrapped her legs around his body began to move with him, submitting to the rhythm of his thrusts.

...

She stared blankly at the rough surface of the kitchen table. It had been far too easy to slip into Itachi's bed. Their shared past and lineage combined with their unresolved friendship had drawn her in. She struggled to impose the guilt and disgust she believed that she deserved, yet couldn't overcome the all-encompassing sense of calm and satisfaction.

Kisame glared at her with a sideways glance as he reached into the icebox and pulled out two filets of fish and a bottle of milk, "sounded good in there last night. If I had known that a Sovereign could be had so easily, I would have tried harder to have you myself."

Despite their attempts at being quiet, Riba did recall Itachi letting a few distinctly male grunts and moans escape. She was probably equally as guilty, though she had been too involved to notice it. She grinned, "how dare you speak to the Sovereign in such a vulgar manner. Don't make the mistake of fencing with me or I will teleport across this table and gut you like the fish you are, and I wont even feel bad about it."

Kisame howled with laughter as he sat down and slid a cracked stoneware plate containing a single uncooked filet across the table to her, "you are a perfect fit for the Akatsuki my dear."

The grin dropped from her face as she began to fill her lungs with dark chakra. In seconds, a small puff of black fire flew from her mouth, searing her filet. She took a deep breath and drew the flame back into her lungs where it dissipated into her body.

Kisame froze in place, captivated by her Jutsu, "I've seen that black fire before, the Amaterasu. However, I was under the impression that you needed your Mangekyou Sharingan active to perform it."

"Itachi does, only because he doesn't have chakra like mine."

Itachi either heard his name or sensed Amaterasu being used in his compound, because it wasn't long before he appeared in the kitchen doorway, stoic and silent. Kisame turned to him and chuckled, "see now, you can follow Akatsuki orders when you put your mind to it. I have no doubt that was a very in-depth investigation you preformed last night…"

Itachi silently disappeared into the dark hallway while Kisame continued to be the only person laughing at his own joke.

"What orders?" Riba asked.

He gulped down his last bite of fish, "you should know that there was a meeting about the five tailed beast a while back."

"Me?"

"Partially, a five tailed creature was extracted from a Hidden Stone shinobi. It was some type of fish-horse apparently."

"Like a sea-horse?"

"No, I think it was more like a horse that can swim."

"I am pretty sure that all horses can swim."

"You're probably right. In that case, I have no idea what it was. More to the point, we now have two five tailed beasts and no idea which of you is the bijuu that came from the separation of the ten tailed Juubi. You could save us all a lot of effort if you would just tell us what you are."

"I'm an insurance policy. No matter what answer I give, the Akatsuki will never believe me. Either I am a bijuu, and your plans will fail unless I'm substituted for the horse, or I'm not a bijuu and am just some random monster that happens, by chance, to have five tails."

"You still haven't answered my question."

"The creature that created me was moments from death. As you can imagine, he neglected to relate his life story. Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. I am not trying to be coy, I honestly don't know, and you may feel free to tell Madara exactly that."

"You don't feel some type of connection to the other bijuu?"

"I have yet to meet another like myself, but in general? No."

"Not the definitive answer we're looking for. Madara will want something more substantial."

She flinched, cutting him off mid sentence as she gently touched the tracking tattoo on her neck, "it's warm. I think Itachi is calling for me."

She picked up her fork and continued to eat as Kisame stared quizzically, "you aren't going?"

"After I finish my meal." She slowly ate the rest of her filet and put her plate in the sink before leaving.

...

She found Itachi staring at the ceiling and twirling his Akatsuki ring around his finger. He had yet to get out bed after their long night.

He closed his eyes, "Years ago, the first time you came here, I thought that it was to take my life. I never would have guessed that it was the ring that you were really after."

"It was an attempt at passive intimidation by Konoha. Was it successful?" She said as she crawled in be beside him.

"The Akatsuki intimidated by Konoha? Hardly. You and your Ferocious Five perhaps. Lawless, unpredictable, slightly crazy. Madara had actually considered hiring you as spies."

"You couldn't afford us."

"We might surprise you. Every shinobi has a price, a fact that you would do well to remember."

"What are you implying?"

"That you may want to consider getting a few spies of your own."

"Spies? I have at least fifty of them. We are bound by war," she insisted.

"In that case, you may want to use them to keep an eye on your men."

"Men as in my former troops?"

"Men as in your former lovers."

"You mean Kakashi and Neji right?"

"Yes, why? Are there more?"

"No, though I didn't play around with Kakashi. Politics, drama, you know how it is."

"Either way, he recently requested a meeting with Danzou."

"...the most corrupt man in Konoha," she clarified.

"Worse than that. He used to hang around the Uchiha quarter when we were children. You know how he claims to have lost his arm in combat? That's entirely false. He has it tucked tightly under his robes. It's covered in Uchiha eyes that he stole throughout his life. Many of which he took from the dead that I killed. He's worse than a criminal."

"As demented as that is, we have no reason to assume that the meeting has anything to do with me. Kakashi is able to get himself into trouble without my influence, I assure you."

"That may very well be true. However, he seems to feel responsible for you. Possibly because he was your instructor, or because of the weird dynamic between you, or both. Regardless of his reasoning, I don't want to ignore this, then one day find him standing in the compound trying to save you from me."

"If only he knew."

"But he doesn't."

"You may also want to talk to Neji. I'm told that he isn't adjusting to life back in Konoha very well."

"I'll see to that immediately. The last thing I want is for this to get out of hand, and end with me having to break him out of Konoha Maximum Security Penitentiary."

"We'll recruit him into the Akatsuki if you want. Even I won't turn down a well-trained Hyuuga."

"I'm not sure what to do with him yet, though honestly, I would rather not leave him in Konoha. Not with all the corruption in the Hyuuga clan."

He rolled over and rested his arm on her stomach, "you know, it has been a while since we traded Jutsu..."

...

Neji stared at the flower covered clearing and endless abyss. He was shocked for a moment, then relieved. The fake proud smile that he adorned in Konoha quickly turned into the devilish grin that she hadn't seen since they were stationed at the Northern Base. He walked over and laid his hands on her hips, pulling her to him while sliding his hands onto her back.

"Where are we?" He said in awe.

"A fabricated world I have temporarily created in your mind. A Genjutsu."

"How could you do this? You aren't even in Konoha."

"Remember when we were at the Northern Base and you decided to keep one of my broken scales as a memento? It still contains a small amount of my chakra, which moved into your brain the minute you picked it up. That was my path into your mind."

"Very impressive. Where did you learn how to do this over such a great distance?"

"I have a history of trading Jutsu with an old friend of mine."

She pulled back and sat down on the soft grass, "I need to know what is going on in Konoha."

He pushed his long hair behind him in a single fluid movement as she sat down and leaned back, "lies and corruption, same as the last hundred years. Of course, the elder's control is subtle yet prevalent. I'm glad that you contacted me, strange things have gone on in your absence."

"Social or political?"

"Both. There are a plethora of rumors about Kakashi. I hear that you tore his heart out and kicked it around on the ground. At least that's what the harlot that serves his drinks, and his body, is telling everyone. The rumors she is spreading are vicious."

"I'm not surprised."

"Actually, I've dying to ask...is it true? Did he choose the barmaid's bed over your life?"

"Something like that, though I don't believe he was of sound mind."

"Excuses. He was better off than the rest of us," Neji said indignantly.

"Either way, in your opinion, do I have cause to worry?"

"Possibly. The elders tracked the two of you extensively. If they have proof that he missed a mission and you falsified the mission report, then they would be all to happy to throw him in a cell. You, however, should be fine. Given your vast political presence and current mission, I would say that your indiscretions would be overlooked. After all, if they executed the Sovereign of Uindo, the Shadow Assassins would erase them from existence."

"Is he doing anything at all to protect himself against persecution? Honestly, I'm very surprised that the barmaid is still alive. It seems like he's letting this get out of control."

"It's strange, my spies in Danzo's headquarters told me that Kakashi has requested a private meeting."

"Which is reaching for the very bottom of the political barrel. Do you know what Kakashi wants with him?"

"No idea, but I do know that the only reason anyone meets with Danzo is to arrange underworld activities."

"If he decides to do something desperate and stupid, let me know. Otherwise, assume his meetings stem from idle curiosity."

"That seems like a stretch, but I will keep you apprised all the same."

"Thank you my dear," she leaned over and gave him a small kiss, sucking gently on his lower lip as she pulled away.

He smiled and sighed, "there is one other thing."

"Of course, how may your Sovereign be of service?"

"It is a favor actually. The personal kind that I would only ask of you."

"Then, how may I be of service?"

He reached up and untied his hitai-ate, letting it fall into his lap and exposing the seal on his forehead, "I need to have this removed."

"Why exactly? Removing the seal would mean removing yourself from the Hyuuga."

"I don't like that the main family of the has the ability to destroy my brain at their convenience. They clam that it's to protect the clan, but they sacrificed my father and will do so to me the minute they feel the least bit paranoid. That's not protection. Those of use that are members of the branch family are not clan members, we're slaves."

"Neji, I know that you returned to Konoha a stranger after leaving the Northern base, and it would be hypocritical of me to criticize you for wanting to leave the city, but is it worth becoming a missing-nin?"

"Riba, I have thought many times about your choices. I may be like you, a better criminal than loyal Konoha drone."

She studied his seal, "my mother was from a Hyuuga branch family. Her seal was removed after she fled to Uindo with my Uchiha father. Do not doubt that I have a very clear understanding of your situation, however, know that the consequences of your decision are irreversible and come with no guarantee. The main family will attempt to terminate you the minute they realize that you have escaped. You had better pray that the Uindo surgeons can remove the seal before then. Uindo doesn't have an extradition treaty with Konoha, however, if you should ever choose to leave the mountain you will be on your own."

"I understand the consequences of what I'm requesting," he calmly insisted.

"Then let me know when you're ready to escape. I can't be there to teleport you, but I can send Danal to pick you up once you cross the Fire Country's border."

"I've been ready for this for a long time, all my life perhaps. I will be ready to leave as soon as you can make the arrangements. Have Danal meet me at the old Northern Fifty base. It would be a fitting departure point, and I would like to see it one more time before I leave forever."

"I will tell Uindo immediately..."

"There is one last thing. I have never liked Kakashi, you know this. The fact that he means something to you is the only reason that I chose to have him watched at all. Once I leave Konoha, I will have given up my ability to feed you information. Nothing he's doing will end well for him, not with who he's dealing with."

"Don't concern yourself with anything but your escape. You have done well for me, and will be rewarded as such."


	15. Spirit of the Law

Disclaimer: I own Uindo not Naruto.

...

Genma finished the last of the sake and unceremoniously dropped the empty bottle on the ground. It bounced on the soft grass of Training Ground #2 before coming to rest between Asuma and Kakashi. "So wait, Danzou is a business man. What did you give him in exchange?"

"A Sharingan eye," Kakashi answered emotionless.

"Oh god, you gave him your eye? Are you crazy? Your career is over!"

"Not my eye. Obito's eye...well, his other eye."

"I thought that his other eye was crushed under a bolder."

"It was damaged, but not unrepairable."

"So why didn't you have that one implanted as well?"

"I can't turn the Sharingan off like an Uchiha. The constant use would cause me to go blind in less than a year. I need my other eye."

"So you had your childhood friend's eye just sitting around your apartment? That my friend, is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard."

"Actually, I had it medically preserved and stored far away from my apartment."

"Still, now Danzou has a Sharingan."

Kakashi snickered, "are you kidding me? He has at least twenty already. The arm he supposedly lost in combat is actually tucked under his robes. He has to hide it so no one finds out about the Uchiha eyes he had implanted into his skin from the wrist up past his elbow."

Genma heaved slightly, "I am way to drunk to hear this."

Asuma shook his head, "And that's why you called us out here? To tell us that? There has to be more."

"There is. I now know the location of Itachi's compound."

"So what? You're going to go find Riba?"

"Essentially, yes."

"And say what exactly? That you apologize for lying by omission and letting it affect your better judgement for at least half a decade?"

"Hmm, I may actually use that line."

"Man, don't. She left the damn village, possibly forever. You acted like you didn't care about her and practically got her killed. I don't think she wants to talk to you, and probably doesn't give a shit about your apologies."

"I know...but I owe her one, even if she doesn't accept it."

"Just don't go out there hoping that she's going to fall into your arms and proclaim undying love. You lost that chance a long time ago."

Genma leaned back unimpressed, "you're being too kind. It could be much worse than a simple rejection. For instance, she could be with Itachi."

"Of course she's with Itachi. She lives in his compound."

"No, I mean she might be getting a wild ride from the bad boy."

"That not going to happen. He's a criminal," Kakashi balked.

"So is she now that she's Akatsuki. Besides, they're both Uchiha, and I'm sure its been a long time since they've been with their own kind. I'm just saying, she may have moved on. I mean, its not like you gave her much to move on from."

"I'm not saying that I want to get married, just try to date her."

"And that's what you gave up a nasty old eye for? To try a relationship?"

"She's the only person I could even vaguely consider being with for longer than a night. Besides, I actually do miss her."

"Just miss? This is a lot of effort for someone you just miss," Genma teased.

"Well, maybe more than miss..."

"Either way, even if you get her back, and that's a big if, the elders will still hang you in town square the moment you lay a hand on her."

Kakashi reached into his jacket and pulled out a small stack of papers, "I think not. This was also part of the deal."

Asuma snatched the documents from his hand and flipped through the stack, "nothing in here has anything to do with her. I'm not even sure what half of this shit is."

"These are all the mission assignments and personal notes from the Hokage for the first month that I was assigned to teach Riba."

Genma grabbed the stack, "Asuma's right, there's nothing here that appears to involve her."

"Exactly," Kakashi said.

"So...that means...what?"

"That my assignment was never logged with the ANBU or recorded in the Sandaime's notes. The Uchiha probably asked for me because of my family's unique white chakra, and Sandaime passingly agreed."

"But why didn't he log the mission?"

"Why should he? Her training had nothing to do with Konoha specifically. It was probably more of a favor than an actual mission. Apparently, the Uchiha agreed to take her as a political move to make them look good to Uindo."

"Ah, but you didn't know that."

"I had no idea. I thought I was literally being given a mission to train a future shinobi. It all makes sense now. They assigned a teenager to teach her because they didn't want to waste the time of a senior shinobi, and isolated her to keep anyone from finding out."

"So it wasn't actually a mission."

"And I wasn't actually her teacher."

"The elders must have known that you would find out eventually."

"Maybe, or maybe they didn't know themselves. They have been after my family since my father's treason. This was their opportunity. The spirit of the law, its intent, was to keep old shinobi from taking advantage of children. Once they found out that I was training a teenager, they had me followed and used the law by its literal interpretation to threaten me. Now that they have no proof that I was actually her teacher. I'll just tell the court that she was my sparing partner."

"Okay, except that this all hinges on her wanting to be with you."

"I know."

Asuma groaned,"what can we do to help?"

"Whatever it takes to lengthen the time between my departure and the discovery of my disappearance. Stall as long as you can, I will need every minute that you can buy me."

...

The compound was quite, seemingly abandoned. Kakashi wandered into the mountain passage and briefly looked into each room. The icebox in the kitchen was dry and empty. He ran his hand along the dark stone wall as he moved farther down the hallway. The beds in both of the smaller bedrooms were covered in stone dust.

He shook his head in disappointment. Either Danzou had lied or his intelligence was too old to be of any use. He had been willing to trade Obito's eye for Riba, but had ended up with an empty cave.

He pushed open the door to the master bedroom. Though clean, the room had obviously been left in a hurry. A tea cup sat on a small table, the dark ring around its interior indicated that it had been left full, though the liquid had long since evaporated. A mesh shirt lay at the foot of the bed, Kakashi pushed it aside as he sat on the edge and looked around the room.

There we no papers, no record of what had happen or where they had gone. No signs of a struggle and no clues. They had left for reasons known only to themselves.

In a rush of anger, he stood up and stormed out of the room, stomping down the hall and out into the courtyard. He leaned against the lone tree and thought over his options, trying to regain his sensibility and decide whether it was even worth it to waste any more of his life searching for her.

He paused and looked up, having sensed someone's chakra as they moved around the perimeter and jumped over the wall into the courtyard.

"Ah Sasuke. What a displeasure it is to see you."

Sasuke's gaze stayed locked on him as he slowly reached for the sword at his back.

"Don't even try it young man. I'm not here for you or your brother. We will have a chance to settle our differences someday, but today is not that day."

"I'm not here for you either. I've already settled my differences with my brother. I came here out of curiosity," he said emotionlessly.

"I'm not entirely surprised to hear that. Would it be too much for me to expect that since you've finally killed your brother, you would be interested in turning yourself in?"

"Yes, it would."

"Right now, I can't entirely say that I blame you."

Slowly, Sasuke's eyes drifted from Kakashi and surveyed the compound, "why exactly are you here? Alone?"

"I was following a lead."

"Not for Itachi obviously, you're missing the necessary army."

"You didn't need one."

"I was bred to kill him, you weren't. You must be here for something else, the woman perhaps?"

"That depends on what woman you're referring to."

"The Sovereign."

Kakashi paused for but an instant, yet it was still long enough for Sauske to notice his hesitation. He grinned sarcastically, "from what I hear, Itachi used to fuck her every night."

"Don't make the mistake of provoking me. Your chakra is almost depleted from combat and we both know it. This would not end well for you," Kakashi snapped.

They stood silently, neither making any obvious attempts to prepare an attack. When it became apparent that Sasuke had been convinced to back down, Kakashi quickly leapt over the high stone wall. He walked until he could no longer detect Sasuke's chakra. The forest was dense and the sun was beginning to set. Realizing that he would need a guide from there on out, he quickly preformed the seals to summon Pakkun.

Kakashi reached down and gently pet the small pug, "I need you to guide me to a body, freshly killed and possibly nearby."

The small dog looked around the forest, smelling the air, "there are a couple faint scents of death. Do you have anything other information to go by?"

"Not much, though the area would probably contain the blood of two people."

"Ok, follow me..."

Pakkun disappeared into the forest with Kakashi following close behind. The most probable location was miles away, and it was dark by the time they finally arrived. Kakashi surveyed the landscape, the vast amount of destruction was indicative of a major battle. He followed Pakkun as the small pug jumped down through the rubble to a person sized puddle of blood.

"Can you tell how old it is?" Kakashi asked.

"It's hard to tell, but I would say a day maximum. That, and I can smell Sasuke's scent all over the place. Assuming that he wasn't lying about fighting Itachi, I would say that this is where he died."

"Do you smell Riba anywhere?"

"Not currently."

"Was anyone else here besides Sasuke and Itachi?"

"I don't think so. If there was, they didn't touch the surroundings in a meaningful way, which would be nearly impossible for almost anyone to do. After all, even simply walking around leaves a scent."

"That's rather strange..."

"Strange how? Private battles are pretty common."

"That maybe true, but then where's the body? Sasuke wasn't carrying it. Can you tell if the body was moved?"

Pakkun sniffed around, "I don't think it was moved physically, but he could have easily used a Container Scroll. Kabuto uses those to transport bodies, maybe he got one from him."

"Possibly, but I don't see why he would want to keep anything but the eyes."

"To bury? In the old Uchiha Compound perhaps?"

"Perhaps..."

Kakashi sighed, shaking his head in overwhelming frustration and disappointment, "well, that was it. The last lead I had. She's truly gone, and this time, no one knows where she is."

"So what do we do now?"

"Write."

"Write what?"

"A mission report for a mission that I should have made public years ago. A decade and a half worth of corruption, courtesy of the Konoha government."


	16. The Avenger

Disclaimer: I own Uindo not Naruto.

...

Sasuke sat up and slid off the operating table as Uchiha Madara watched him from under his orange swirled mask. "How do you feel?" Madara asked pleasantly.

"...when can I use them?"

"You can take off the bandages as soon as you feel completely healed. Itachi's eyes were in very good shape, so I had no problem transplanting them. Starting now, you have the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan."

"Perfect."

"One thing though, I wouldn't go into the lower levels of the compound from here on out."

Sasuke groaned in pain from the swelling around his eyes, "Why?"

"I recently brought in Uchiha Uindo Riba. I would rather not let her out of confinement until I'm sure that she won't attack you."

He chuckled sarcastically, "what exactly could she do..."

"She could kill you, easily. Possibly me as well. Under no circumstances should you underestimate her."

Sasuku sat silently as he recalled childhood memories of the compound and the strange girl that his brother had spent so much time with. Catching Itachi's attention was an extraordinary feat, and he had always been curious what she possessed that was so alluring to him, "...I would like to see her."

"Riba and Itachi were planing...something. I found her in a house outside of Sora-ku, waiting for him. He had her chakra masked, so had you not killed him, we may never have found her. She may be...angry."

"Sora-ku has been abandoned since before the Uchiha Massacre. I fail to see why they would ever go there, or why they would hide."

"I have my suspensions, which is why I have her downstairs. I think that she may prove to be even more useful than either you or her realize."

...

Sasuke stared at the ceiling above his bed. The small cave-like room was extremely plain and hadn't warranted his attention until that night. Somehow, everything seemed new and vibrant with the knowledge that he was seeing it through Itachi's eyes. He concentrated, trying to feel the presence of the eyes inside of his sockets, trying to feel the remnants of his brother.

He rolled over and stared at the blank stone wall, wondering what the world had looked like to him. What he had seen. What his life had been like.

The knowledge that Itachi had been ordered by the elders to massacre the Uchiha, and that he had done so to save the village from an Uchiha coup, had redirected Sasuke's rage towards Konoha. The elders had lied and tarnished Itachi's name. They disgusted him, and thus, he longed for the day when he would burn them and the city to the ground.

He felt foolish for taking the word of the elders at face value and wasting so much of his life hating Itachi. The realization that his life had been based on lies fuelled his fascination about who his brother actually was. He had always assumed that they were similar, driven by rage and hate, but now he wasn't so sure. Madara painted him in a far different light, and the fact that he had taken the Sovereign of Uindo and attempted to hide with her outside of the Akatsuki's reach was puzzling.

He was never one to consider rules as restrictions that he needed to follow. He was beyond that. Sheer arrogance drove him as he slid out of bed, grabbed his Akatsuki coat from the back of a chair, masked his chakra, and ran through the lower levels toward the compound's only cell. He stared down the dimly lit hallway. The bars were made out of the same dark brown stone as the hall and were engraved with a series of seals, written in a language he had never seen before. They covered every inch of the bars and walls, indicative of how strong Madara considered her abilities to be.

The cell was bare, containing nothing but a rather uncomfortable looking wooden cot, and a lone woman resting on top of it.

She looked different from what he had expected. Until that moment, he was never quite able resolve in his mind what a crossbreed between an Uchiha and Hyuuga would actually look like. She appeared younger than he had imagined, though, she had been friends with his brother and taught by Kakashi, so it wasn't that much of a surprise. The draw that Itachi had to her was obvious, she looked much more like an Uchiha then a Hyuuga. The splashes of red in her otherwise black hair set her apart and made her look strikingly unique, and yet comfortably familiar. His eyes drifted up her body. It was apparent from her tight-fitting Uchiha jumpsuit that she was slender and yet slightly curvy, differing from the overly lean women of his clan. She was quite and peaceful, just as he remembered her from his childhood. He had watched her spar and play and had begged Itachi to tell him about her every night for months. Finally giving up when it became apparent that he would never talk about her, even in passing.

He slowly walked up to the cell and watched her sleep. Unconsciously, his hand began to drift across the cold stone of the bars as he leaned in to get a better look. Instantly her eyes snapped open, startling him momentarily. He quickly recovered, "Uchiha Uindo...I have questions for you."

She sat up and blankly stared, making him question his decision to speak with her.

"...do you hate me for killing Itachi?" He asked.

She paused, "I don't _hate_ you. Itachi wanted you to kill him and provoked you as such for years."

Though stoic by appearance, he was fighting back a devilish grin. She could have been angry and tried to attack him on sight, however, her opinion mirrored his own. "Why were you at Sora-ku? Were you and Itachi trying to get at the old Uchiha weapon reserves?"

"Not exactly."

"Then why? There is nothing out there but abandoned buildings and munitions."

She glided over to the bars as tomes appeared in her eyes, "would you like to see?"

He stared at the spinning tomes. It was strange to see a Sharingan in a color other than red. Her eyes were alluring, amber in color though dark enough to look almost like dull gold. It occurred to him that this was more than likely a mental ambush, yet his curiosity and arrogant confidence quickly overrode his better judgement, "show me."

The rooms melted away as they became absorbed in her Genjutsu. He looked around at the simple wooden house. It appeared to have been abandoned, though strangely, was filled with new boxes of various sizes and shapes. Warm sunlight shown through the open door, distorting his view of Sora-ku outside. He listened carefully to a pair of voices that were approaching the house.

"And this is where we can put the garden...let me show you the inside."

Sasuke winced in surprise as Itachi walked in, holding Riba's hand as he guided her. He had never seen his brother in clothing other than traditionally Uchiha until that moment, wearing a simple black shirt and pants, indistinguishable from a civilian. He looked over at Riba, adorned in a simple, light blue, sun dress. At first, he thought that they were trying to disguise themselves as a normal, but the more he studied them, the more he realized that they weren't moving like shinobi, but with the uncoordinated movements of a couple going about their daily lives. It was uncomfortable to watch as it was so outside of his brother's character.

"This is the kitchen and dinning room. Upstairs is the bedroom. I realize that it doesn't seem like much right now..."

She smiled, stopping him mid-sentence, "it's perfectly fine."

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her toward him with gentle familiarity. Sasuke was transfixed, he had never seen his brother be that affectionate, ever.

He smiled lightly, "we can start tomorrow."

"Start?"

"Start again. Give up our past. You give up Kakashi and I will give up Sasuke. Let them live their own lives and we can live ours," he gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead before letting her go. He walking over to a heap of boxes on the floor and rummaged through them until he finally pulled out a black clump of fabric.

Riba turned and stared despairingly as he unravelled and put on his Akatsuki coat, "I thought we were done with this. That we're never going back."

"We aren't. I just have to meet with Madara one last time at an old Uchiha temple not far from here. I'll be back before nightfall."

"What are you going to tell him?"

"To consider us dead, fallen in combat. And to never look for us or it will mean his death at our hands."

"And you're sure that we can back up that threat?"

"Not separately, but as a team he could never defeat us...and he knows it."

She walked over placed her hand on his shoulder. He fixed the collar of his coat and rubbed her neck softly, "this is the last time. By tomorrow, we will have a new life."

The Genjutsu faded as Itachi walked out the door. Riba walked back across the cell and sat on the edge of her bed, "I'll spare you the part where he never returned and I spent weeks screaming in pain, grieving his loss at your hands."

Sasuke instantly tuned and aggressively ran down the hall. He had gone to her expecting stories of their combat techniques and victories, but left with an image of his brother that enraged him. He turned the corner to his room with such force that he almost bumped straight into Madara.

"I told you not to go down there. She could have killed you," he barked.

Sasuke stepped around him and sat on his bed as Madara sat in a desk chair, resting his feet on the bed beside him.

"It's said that Sovereigns don't kill their own, and I am inclined to believe it. Also, she doesn't hate me for killing Itachi. She blames him for provoking me," Sasuke said.

"But she isn't happy about it?"

"No, she isn't. They had unexpected plans that I interrupted."

"She could be lying."

"She showed me a scene that was too detailed to be fabricated. There was more to Itachi than you let on."

Madara leaned forward, "he had wanted to meet with me about something, but by the time I arrived you had already killed him. That's the end of the story, so are you satisfied? Has the beast answered all your questions?"

"I don't think she's a beast. She doesn't strike me that way..."

"And that's enough to convince you? Don't be fooled. During the last invasion of her country she unleashed a lava flow that killed almost the entire Hidden Cloud army. You can still see the their stone covered corpses imbedded in the side of Uindo Peak, thousands of statues in tortured poses, screaming as they were burned alive. I'm surprised that they didn't harvest the bodies and use them to reanimate their own people, as they have a very long history of doing. And what about the infamous war atrocities of the Northern Fifty? She came back from that mission with the Mangekyou Sharingan. How did she earn it I wonder? We may never know who, but you and I both know how."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Merely that she is Akatsuki for a reason. Like Itachi, she pursued noble causes using ruthless measures."

"...then she is one of us."

Madara watched as Sasuke sat silently, turning the information over in his mind. He smiled under his mask, though his voice gave no sign, "she may look like a person, a beautiful person even, but make no mistake, she is the dark dragon. Not a bijuu, yet no less legendary. A cold chakra flows within her, and from her past actions, I think it would be safe to assume that she has inherited the burning hatred of the Uchiha bloodline."

"It doesn't seem that way."

"Only because you haven't asked her the right questions. Maybe you should see what she thinks about the Konoha elders."

Sasuke leaned back onto the bed, "let her out of the cell."

His grin widened, "you want to let her out? Well now, I can't allow that. However, I could teach you how to pass through the bars..."

...

Days past before Madara finally left the compound. Sasuke waited patiently until his chakra was too far away to be detected before venturing down to Riba's cell. As before, she was silent and unmoving, appearing to be asleep. Sasuke, reluctant to be fooled twice, tapped loudly on the bars.

She sat up and scooted back against the wall, "what is it?"

"I have one last question for you...do you know of Konoha's elders?"

She exhaled audibly in annoyance, " I watched them send my team of fifty off to rot in disease, and destroy the life of a Hyuuga that I hold dear. Yes, you could say that I know of them."

"Yet, they are still alive. You could just kill them. That's what Uindo Shadows do isn't it? Assassinate without a trace?"

"Their death at my hands could start a war between the home of the Uchiha and Hyuuga, and the land of the Dark Winds. I can't allow that. I serve a higher cause."

She had only somewhat answered his veiled question. Her words spoke of hate and rage, but her outward appearance was unfazed. He decided to change tactics, "I killed one of the elders recently, Danzou. He ran to save his own life as the blood spewed from his veins. I followed him for a while until he finally killed himself in desperation. It was rather pathetic actually."

He studied her face, for a moment she seemed unmoved, but then her mouth began to curl into a slight grin as her eyes narrowed darkly. In an instant, she regained composer and sat calmly as if nothing had happened. Most would have failed to notice the momentary flux in her demeanor, however, Sasuke knew his own kind too well to be fooled. Her lapse was that all he needed to finalize his decision.

He placed his hand on one of the stone bars, infusing it with his chakra as Madara had instructed. True to his word, Madara had changed the structure of the seals to allow Sasuke to enter and leave at will. He grabbed a small bag that he had hidden in the shadow of a nearby wall, and walked through the bars as if they were made of water.

"Lie down," he commanded.

"Why?"

"Lie down," he sat on the bed and pushed her chest, guiding her onto her back.

"What are you doing?"

He opened the small black bag and pulled out two jars, a senbon, a few strips of cloth, and an ancient looking scroll, "I'm going to give you my eyes." She tried to sit up, but he quickly pushed her down again and crawled on top of her, "transplanting another Uchiha's eyes is the only way that you can achieve the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. They will never weaken and you will never go blind. It will unleash godlike power within you. I have Itachi's, and you will have mine."

She shifted slightly under his body, "why?"

"My clan is the only thing that matters to me. We are all that's left. I believe that Itachi would have wanted this for you as well."

"But my eyes are part Hyuuga."

"So? Nothing about you seem that way."

"I know a Hyuuga that would disagree."

"I'll bet...and he would be wrong. After the surgery, you will be as Uchiha as I am."

He dipped the senbon in the smaller of the two jars and swirled it around as he pulled down the collar of her shirt and slid his leg over her body, straddling her. He leaned in and caught the jasmine scent of her skin as he watched her chest move with each breath under a smooth black bra.

"I'm going to paralyse you. Try to stay still." He pulled open the scroll and studied the inscribed diagrams while he pushed her bra slightly aside and positioned the senbon over her heart.

"Is something wrong?" she asked firmly.

"Stay still...I've never done this before."

"You don't know what you're doing? And you want to operate on my eyes!"

He felt her breath quicken as her chest raised and lowered rapidly under his hand, "I studied the method extensively before coming down here. I wouldn't risk ruining you if I wasn't sure that I could do this." In a single swift motion, he stabbed the senbon into her heart and she instantly froze. He stared at her vacant expression as he reached into the larger jar and removed what had once been one of his eyes.

It took hours, but he wanted to make sure that it was done perfectly. He marvelled at his work as he stared into her now dark eyes. She looked beautifully Uchiha. He rubbed her neck and shook her slightly, trying to wake her as he wrapped strips of cloth around her head.

She groaned, "won't Madara be angry when he discovers what you've done?"

"What's he going to do? Kill me?"

"What if he does?"

"Would you let him?"

"Of course not."

"Exactly," he grinned.

She squirmed slightly as he slid off of her and began to pack his supplies. He threw a bloody pile of cloth on to the floor and used a small burst of fire Jutsu to burn away the remnants.

She sniffed, "what's that smell?"

"Your old eyes and a few bloody rags."

"You burned my eyes?"

"Of course. Cross-bred Uchiha-Hyuuga eyes would be of great value to anyone outside of our clan."

"Except, if Madara comes down here and decides to rip your eyes from my head, I'll have nothing to replace them with."

He hadn't thought of that possibility, "that won't happen."

"Unless it does."

"...I'll make sure that it doesn't happen."

He walked through the bars and down the hall. Just before he reached the stairs, the world around him melted away and he found himself standing in a field of white flowers. Riba lay quietly in the grass with bandages over her eyes, exactly as he had left her.

"What the hell is this?" he said defiantly.

She groaned, "Genjutsu."

"How? Your eyes are covered and my back was turned."

"While you were in my Genjutsu watching Itachi, I depositing some of my chakra into your body. I can trace it with my Mangekyou Sharingan and trap you in my Genjutsu, even over great distances."

The tomes in his eyes began to swirl, "I want to copy this."

"I'm pretty sure that you can do it already. It's an inherent part of our bloodline and advanced Sharingan."

He watched as she rolled over slightly, and made visible a circular tattoo that sat at the base of her neck, "Itachi's chakra is with me, even now. We used Genjutsu to communicate when we were separated."

"But I don't have a chakra conductive tattoo, so how is your chakra still in me?"

"It takes a long time for chakra to dissipate. The tattoo was so that Itachi could have permanent contact, but I would imagine that anyone who absorbed your chakra through Ninjutsu would have remnants that would be traceable. I'll let you know through Genjutsu if I get into any trouble with Madara."

A dark grin crossed his face as the Genjutsu melted away and he continued down the hall to his room.


	17. Unfair Trade

Disclaimer: I own Uindo not Naruto.

...

Kakashi rolled over and pulled the covers over his head, straining to find room to stretch out between the ramen stand waitress and her slightly younger sister. Feeling defeated, he managed to climb out of bed and make it to the shower. He threw his mask, the only piece of clothing that he had kept on for the evening, over the towel rack and glided under the warm stream of water. He let the heat sooth his sore body until he eventually heard the sound of the women collecting their clothes and shuffling out the door.

In the years following Riba's departure, Kakashi had created quite a reputation for himself. He didn't want to be your boyfriend, or even your friend, but if you went to The Little Boxer at the right time, when he was in the right mood, you could get the night of your life. He all but guaranteed it, and his reputation for success was flawless.

He stepped out of the shower, put on his mask, and searched for clean cloths. As he finished dressing, he sat down at his desk and looked over the large stack of papers before him. He leaned back and closed his eyes, knowing full well that he had written almost all there was to tell and was about completed the most thorough, and controversial, long-term mission report in Konoha history. It would probably cost him his job, and maybe even his freedom, but would do the same for the elders, which he felt was well worth the sacrifice.

He shivered slightly as he felt a draft and leaned forward to reach for the window, but felt nothing. He stood up in shock and found himself standing in a stone prison cell that was inscribed with strange seals. Knowing instantly that he was trapped in a Genjutsu, he began to survey his surroundings. The detail was literally unbelievable. Genjutsu was always more plain than reality, as the user had to create a mental world for the victim, and the human mind lacked the descriptive ability to accurately represent a complex environment in its entirety.

The reality of the situation sank in as he analyzed underneath the underneath. The world was too real to be imaginary, therefore, it had to be real. Someone was showing him a live event that was occurring in some distant place. It was awe-inspiring.

He turned away from the bars and immediately saw a small bed with Riba resting on top of it. Instinctively he grabbed for her, but his hands passed straight through her body. He tried to touch the bed and wall with the same result.

She was laying peacefully on her side, wearing a black Uchiha jumpsuit and covering herself with a flimsy looking blanket. She seemed to be staring blankly at the floor in contemplation. He leaned over and looked into her eyes. Uchiha Uindo Riba had golden yellow eyes, but this person's were a very dark gray, almost black. If it had been a setup, it was an extremely good one. Yet, the one detail that the enemy had missed had given the whole charade away.

He turned and stared into the darkness outside of the cell as he heard someone approaching. The woman seemed to hear it as well, and instantly, her eyes transformed into a Mangekyou Sharingan. A golden six-pointed star with a branched swirl in its center. He stared in shock as there was only one golden Sharingan in the world, and it belonged to Riba. Her Sharingan faded as Sasuke walk up to the cell. His traditionally red Mangekyou Sharingan was activated and staring at her. It was different from how Kakashi remembered. The six-pointed star now had a three-pointed shape within it. As if Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan had fused within his.

Sasuke leaned his head against the bars and reaching through the open spaces between, running his hands along the engraved stone.

She smiled, "You've grown to look like him."

"Do you like it?"

"I haven't decided yet."

He grinned and spoke in a low velvet tone, "then why don't I come in there and show you how alike we really are."

"Young man, I am way too much for you to handle."

"...I may surprise you..."

He ran his hands across the bars as he stepped through, "did you know that shortly after I fought Danzou; Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto attacked me?"

She rolled on to her stomach and leaned on her elbows, "without provocation? That seems a bit out of character for them."

"Sakura hunted me down with every intention of killing me. When she failed, Kakashi offered to finish the job himself."

"And how did you respond?"

"Madara showed up and stopped the fight, so I did nothing, but I know what I plan to do now."

"You aren't seriously considering going after Hatake Kakashi are you?"

"Oh no, I am going to do something _far_ worse."

"What could be worse?"

He grinned evilly as he turned and stared directly at Kakashi, "I'm going to fuck his woman."

"Is that supposed to be some kind of silent revenge?" She teased.

"Silent?...sure..."

He pulled of his shirt, letting it fall to the floor as he walked over and crawled into her bed. She squirmed as he reached for the zipper on her jumpsuit and pulled it down the length of her back, as if she was surprised that he was serious.

The sudden contact of his hands on her skin as he pulled off her cloths made Kakashi instinctively lunge forward and strain in aggravation as his hands passed through Sasuke's body.

Sasuke kissed across her shoulder blades as he rubbed his hands along her back, "you know, I wouldn't get upset if you called me Itachi tonight...or perhaps even Kakashi?..."

She turned to speak and he quickly kissed her lips, preventing her from answering. He rolled her on to her back and slid his hand up her thigh as he leaned over and licked the perimeter of her breast, "it feels like you're excited...and ready. I could always stop...unless of course, you want me to fuck you."

He pushed her thighs apart with his other hand, as Kakashi watched in horror. They were naked and breathing heavy with sweet beginning to form between them. She was so quickly aroused, as if the presence of his young body alone pleasured her. She had always been gentle and kind, but with Sasuke she was just dirty. Only in Kakashi's fantasies had he seen her eyes smolder, but now it was live and directed at his enemy.

Sasuke's breaths deepened as his attention was diverted away from Kakashi by the allure of her body as he slid between her legs.

...

He leapt through the window and into Tsunade's office in Hokage tower.

"Good morning Kakashi. I assume that you're here to tell me what I already know..." She motioned toward the front of her desk where two chairs sat, one of which was already occupied by Sakura.

"I see that I'm not the only one who woke up to Sasuke's performance this morning," he said.

Tsunade sighed, "he targeted you and Sakura. Naruto is out of the village training so we don't have a report from him as of yet, though, I would imagine that it wouldn't have had the same effect, so Sasuke may not have bothered."

"And how is Konoha planing to handle this?"

"We aren't."

Kakashi balked, "You're going to let him get away with it?"

"Get away with what? Did he beat her? Torture her? Kill her? It sounds like all they did was have sex, in multiple positions, which I didn't really want to know, yet Sakura seems unable to keep from telling me. Yes the distance Genjutsu is a rarely used ability, but even that should prove how powerful Sasuke has become, and why he shouldn't be approached randomly and without authorization, which is exactly what you three did. You provoked him. Frankly, I'm surprised this is the worst that your impromptu assassination attempt caused."

"Tsunade, Riba is sleeping with S-rank criminals. Her mental state has obviously been compromised."

"Says who? If sleeping around is distracting them from attacking us, who are we to complain?" We saw a drop in Akatsuki activity almost immediately upon transferring her to them. With that in mind, I would say it was a fair trade."

"No, it wasn't. What is she getting out of this...trade?"

"Laid, apparently. By the most gorgeous criminals the Akatsuki has to offer."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed, "that's not funny, and neither is this situation."

"You know what isn't funny? You sleeping with every woman in town for years, yet having the gall to come into my office and question the methods of one of my most elite and successful Jounin."

"The women I sleep with aren't mass murders."

"Let's not be dramatic. I'm not going to infiltrate the Akatsuki and risk starting a war because you saw one of your former students sleeping with another one of your former students."

"She wasn't legally my student, a technicality that I would very much like to see made public."

"I don't care. Her educational status is irrelevant to her transfer to the Akatsuki, or the current situation."

He paused, "Sakura, did you see Riba's Mangekyou Sharingan when she awakened it at the Northern base?"

"Yes, though she had issues with it back then," she replied.

"What did it look like?"

"Four yellow lines swirling out from around her pupil, on a black background."

He turned to Tsunade, "when I saw Riba, her Mangekyou Sharingan pattern had fused with Sasuke's, which means that she now has Sasuke's eyes, and therefore, the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan."

"A shinobi loyal to Konoha who has such power is a benefit to us."

"Or a sign that she is becoming one of them. If we don't find and extract her soon, we may lose her."

Tsunade stared at him despairingly, sensing his disconnect with the terms of the trade, "Kakashi, we have no intention of getting her back under any circumstances, ever. That was the deal we made. We didn't send her on a mission, we surrendered her to them."


	18. Deferring the Snakes

Disclaimer: I own Uindo not Naruto.

...

Madara walked up to the bars of Riba's cell and preformed a series of seals. Almost instantly the engravings around the room began to dissolve.

"You're letting me out?" She asked.

"Yes."

"Are you letting me go as well?

"Yes."

"...It can't be that simple."

"It's not"

"Then why do this?"

"Because it seems that you won't kill a fellow Uchiha under any circumstances, as your interactions with Sasuke have shown. Thus, you're no threat to me."

"You used Sasuke to test my resolve...smart man."

"However, since you're an experienced killer of another kind, I do have a request. The lost child from your village, Kabuto..."

"What would I want with him?"

"He used Orochimaru's Edo Tensei to resurrect Itachi."

"So you want me to kill Kabuto to rescue Itachi? Kill a lost child of Uindo to save a Uchiha?"

"Would you?"

"The Uindo are just as much my people as the Uchiha and Hyuuga. If I were to Kill Kabuto, it would be because he threatened Uindo. Considering that Uindo is meaningless to you, what's your stake in this?"

He snickered, "smart woman. A few days ago I attacked the Five Nations conference and declared war. The Fourth Shinobi World War is raging outside in case you hadn't noticed. Kabuto has blackmailed me into joining forces with him against the five great shinobi lands. However, Zetsu and I are more than capable of fighting this war on our own, so I would not be opposed to having Kabuto removed from our coup."

"I fail to see what that has to do with Uindo."

"If he gets control of the world, what would stop him from attacking your home next?"

She scoffed sarcastically, "if you get control of the world, what is to stop _you_ from attacking my home land next?"

"The desire to reward your loyalty to the Akatsuki by allowing you to continue your rule as Sovereign, as long as you refrain from attacking my allied nations of course."

"A tempting offer."

"I'm glad that you grasp that."

"He had to have something to contribute to your army, so can I assume that he resurrected more than just Itachi?"

"Yes, thousands of the greatest shinobi in history. Apparently, they will continue on even if he's killed."

She walked by Madara and teleported past the unsealed barsand silently ascended the stairs.

"So will you kill him?" He yelled.

She turned, "perhaps."

...

Riba stepped out of the compound and took a deep breath. The sun was shining and she could almost taste the freshness of the air. She took off her Akatsuki coat and preformed the seals for her modified Hiraishin no Jutsu, teleporting the coat to a hidden place known only to her.

"Nice trick," Sasuke said as he emerged from the darkened interior of the compound and began to walk along side her. She started down the nearest available path through the surrounding forest.

"So your leaving us then?" He asked.

"I'm leaving the Akatsuki compound, not the Uchiha. If that's what you're asking."

"Good. Then I need a favor."

"From below the belt? Or something more serious?"

"I'm interested in securing a resurrection in the event of my death, actually."

Riba stopped. Sasuke took a few steps forward from momentum before turning to face her, "is this a problem?"

"You don't see Itachi around here do you? Uindo doesn't just resurrect anybody. You have to be registered by blood."

He tilted his head slightly and smiled, "I don't believe that someone who is such a talented criminal and who has such a history of disobedience, would let the law stop her." He grabbed her waist and quickly pulled her close with just enough force to recall her memories of his desirably sexual aggression, "let's talk about the _other_ way to get someone resurrected."

She reached up and brushed few strands of dark black hair that had fallen in front of his face back behind his ear, "are you really that afraid of Naruto?"

His smile quickly dissipated, "so you know about the prophecy?"

"Prophecy? I don't need a declaration from some legendary frog to see that you two are matched in power and are progressing at similar rates. Eventually you will have to face each other, and I wouldn't be surprised if the ensuing combat obliterates you both."

"Don't dodge the question, I need to secure a resurrection. You are the Sovereign, I know that you know how to do this."

"Illegally, yes. I have a few friends that will do it for me outside of the confines of Uindo's watchful eyes. I made arrangements with them in case of Itachi's death, however, since you and Madara took his body and removed his eyes, I have nothing to resurrect him into. We don't have Uchiha bodies just lying around."

"So you can never resurrect him? He's gone forever?"

"I got some of his blood from a napkin he bleed on at dinner one night. He has been privately registered in case a body eventually turns up. Which brings me to you..."

"You would need my body, to resurrect me."

She reached around and directed one of his hands from her hip up to the back of her neck, "yes, which is why you will need to take good care of it. Your hand is over the tattoo Itachi gave me. Infuse it with your chakra and use Genjutsu to contact me if you think that you're close to death. I'll teleport to your body and retrieve it."

He let his chakra seep into her skin, filling the conductive ink, "and you will need my blood as well?"

"As much as you can spare."

He reached inside of shirt and pulled out an empty vial, no longer than his palm, "would this be enough?"

"I see that you've come prepared. Yes, that will be fine, though you will need to fill it completely."

He pulled the katana at his side from its sheath, ran his finger along the blade, and held the wound over the vial as his blood began to squirt out in small arcs. Once the vial was full, he pulled out a cap and closed it securely.

She took the vial, "do you have a pen? Paper?"

"No, I read more than I write."

She quickly unsheathed her sword and sliced off a small strip of white fabric from his sleeve. The fabric seared and smelled of burning cotton from the intense heat of her blade. She put away her sword as Sasuke stared in surprise. She grabbed his hand and used the blood from his finger to write his name on the cloth, before tying it around the vial and using Hiraishin no Jutsu to teleport it to Uindo, "my friends will know what this means and what to do. Don't concern yourself with death, but do defend your body. Sacrifice your life for it if you have to."

She put his finger in her mouth and licked it gently to stop the bleeding. He laughed at her sexually sarcastic joke as she let go of his hand, and resumed walking through the forest.

"Where will you go?" He shouted.

"To war, there's nowhere else to go. By the way, I hear that Kabuto was somehow able to resurrect and control Itachi. You can't let him get away with that now can you?"

Sasuke seemed stunned at the news, which brought a small smile to Riba's face as she left him standing on the path. Once the compound was out of sight, her pace began to quicken. She always walked fast when she had much to think over, a manifestation of the speed at which she turned thoughts over in her mind. She was beginning to second guess her decision to register Sasuke for resurrection. It was her job to protect her people, and if she simply looked at it from the stand point of duty, her decision was correct even if it was illegal. However, she felt an overwhelming need to consider what Itachi would have wanted. He died for his brother, so did that mean that he wanted his brother to live at all costs? Or would he have felt that Sasuke's desire to destroy Konoha was too great a price to pay, and would have tried to stop him?

She sighed in defeat. She had Sasuke's attention and had directed him towards Kabuto, and therefore, away from Konoha. Neither would be destroyed, which she assumed was the essence of Itachi's intent. "Protect your people" was a relative term. It wasn't always clear what constituted protection. Neji's needs had been obvious and surprisingly easy to accommodate, Itachi's less so, though they had somehow managed to mutually fulfil each other.

Duty before self, the mantra of the Uchiha-Hyuuga-Uindo and the prevailing force that overshadowed all of her past lovers. Sasuke was just the latest in a long line of men whose lives she was responsible for, and the responsibility was ever-present.

She preformed a series of hand seals and, almost instantly, a small bag marked with one of her Hiraishin no Jutsu location tags appeared before her. She picked up the bag and began to dig through it, pulling out the gloves and hitae-ate that Kakashi had given her years ago, and putting them on as she went. She grinned as she recalled when he gave them to her.

Unlike all the other men in her life, she owed Kakashi nothing. He was not under her protection nor was he her responsibility. Maybe if he had shown a bit more interest, things would have turned out different.

She sighed, it was easy to blame lack of interest and play the victim, but realistically, she regretted never having been straight with him. Would it have been romantic to directly ask What he wanted? Or tell him what she wanted? Possibly not, but the suspense and mystery was not worth the confusion it created. Everything could have been made clear had one of them been brave enough to be blunt. Apparently, she had been strong enough to not allow herself to be treated badly and move on, but not enough to risk rejection by standing firm and asking the tough questions. It would be different this time, if the situation presented itself, she would initiate the conversation that she should have as a teenager.

Either way, there was a war to fight, and she had no intention of missing it. She stood up, teleported the bag away, and continued leisurely in the general direction of Konoha.


	19. The ReReturn

Disclaimer: I own Uindo not Naruto.

...

Kakashi walked aggressively through the alleys of Konoha. Most of the buildings had been boarded up or otherwise fortified earlier in the day, as the citizens were evacuated. He had spent the last few hours looking for stragglers, and was pleased to find that most people had taken the threat of invasion seriously, and left. He walked over to Naruto's apartment and left his completed mission report on his desk for him to find once the war was over.

He began to walk back to his apartment. As he approached Merchant Row, he turned and went into the Uchiha Compound. Logically, he knew that the area was abandoned, but his instincts wouldn't let him be content with anything less than giving the whole of Konoha a once over.

The dilapidated houses were predictably vacant. The sun was beginning to set and its orange glow highlighted the deep scratches and indentations on the walls, remnant of decades of neglect. He walked over to the clearing outside of Riba's old house. Most of the time he avoided going anywhere near the cold shell of a building. The memories it invoked had ceased to be painful, though were still unpleasant.

He began to walk away, but stopped when he detected a flash of light in his peripheral vision. He quickly turned back, straining to see inside the dark interior, and could barely detect a bit of reflected light from moving metal.

Instantly his heart began to pound as his flight or fight response kicked in. He dashed across the dirt yard and jumped through the open kitchen window.

"...Sasuke?.." He said threateningly.

The the man in the shadows had masked his chakra. Neither Kakashi or the stranger moved as they waited for the other to strike. He surveyed the room, knowing that it was about to become a battle ground. It was as bare as it had always been, just a few cabinets, a stove off to the side, and a table with too chairs. The boards that comprised the walls and floor had darkened with age and matched the rough unfinished look of the wooden table. Everything was covered in a thin layer of dust that formed strange wispy patterns from years of being blown around by wind that seeped through the poorly sealed window. The sun had set and the moon was rising, just enough to coat the room in an eery blue glow.

The figure shifted slightly "...Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm in danger. Are you here looking for a fight?"

Kakashi froze at the sound of Riba's voice. The shock was quick to set in and slow to dissipate. He instantly became overwhelmed by the plethora of decisions that needed to be made at once; if she could still be considered an ally, and if he could bring himself to kill her, to name a few.

"I don't plan to attack you, as long as you're still fundamentally on our side," He said emotionlessly.

She emerged from the shadows and sat quietly at the rugged kitchen table, wiping her hand across its surface in obvious displeasure at the dust and damage it had acquired, "I may be Akatsuki, but my feelings towards Konoha haven't changed. I'm here merely to assist the Allied Shinobi Nations."

"How exactly?"

"This village is monitored at all times, in light of that, I have no intention of elaborating further."

After all his searches had failed, he had made peace with the belief that he would never see her again, yet, she sat before him as if nothing had changed. He turned and looked the window as he tried to think underneath the underneath. Physically, she appeared not to have aged, but her attitude had shifted. The wild side beneath her calm exterior was either no longer present, or very well hidden. He glared at her out of the corner of his eye, "so why are you in the village? What do you want?"

"To wait for combat to begin in Konoha tomorrow. Intelligence that I'm sure you've already discovered given the abandoned state of the village."

"And that's all you want...to help us."

"...and to talk with you, if possible."

He turned harsh and growled, "about what? What could we possibly have to say to each other now_ Akatsuki_?"

A small twinge of pain instantly flickered in his mind. A realization that even after years of regret, he was still subject to old habits. There was absolutely no reason for him to be cold and uncaring to her, yet he had automatically defaulted back to being arrogant and withdrawn. It was a personality that he wore like an old coat, too comfortable and broken in to throw out.

Her impassive expression betrayed nothing, as if she had prepared herself to deal with his attitude, "stop Kakashi. Just stop. I'm done playing rounds of _who is the toughest shinobi_ with you. I no longer have the patience to deal with your arrogance, or to match it with my own."

He leaned back and sat against the window sill, having already begun to calm himself, "you're right..."

Sensing change in his demeanor, she smiled at him with genuine warmth. It was an inviting look that betrayed the indifferent attitude that the Uchiha normally enveloped.

He grinned, "I liked your old eyes better."

"They were out of gold at the Uchiha shop, so I settled for dark gray."

"Who did you have to sleep with to get those?"

She returned his sarcastic grin, "the eyes were an unexpected gift. I sleep around for free. A practice that you're not unaccustomed to from what our spies tell us."

He walked over to her cabinets and began to gratuitously shuffle through them with unapologetic familiarity, "it passes the time."

"Mindless entertainment?"

"Exactly."

He pulled out a dark brown bottle from a back corner and inspected its dusty surface, "what is this?"

"Spiced rum. It's common in the northern countries. I don't believe you have an equivalent here in the south."

"Is it still good?" He said as he sat down across from her.

"It's generally considered to mature with age, as long as it isn't opened."

He stared at her unwaveringly as he pulled a kunai from his flack jacket and stabbed the cork exactly in its center, penetrating just deep enough to pull out in a single swift motion.

The strong scent of sea spices filled the room as he used the lip of the bottle to slide up his mask just far enough to connect the rim with his mouth. He tilted back his head, letting half of the liquor pour down his throat.

"I would be careful with that. It's substantially stronger than anything you have in the Fire Country."

He pulled the bottle away from his lips and used the rim to pull the edge of his mask back down to his neck, "good, I'll need it."

"You really need to get drunk to have this conversation?"

"No, but at some point tonight you're probably going to see me unmasked. A feat of which I have only recently learned to tolerate, and only while intoxicated. You do want to see my face, don't you?"

"Not especially. Your appearance has never interested me."

"I've always respected that about you. You're the only woman who hasn't cared. You know, getting my mask off was a badge of honor to the women that frequent The Little Boxer."

"Well done? Congratulations on encouraging women to take pleasure in exploiting your only weakness?"

"That's not my only weakness...the other would be lust."

"And is that why you came here? Because of lust?"

He ran his finger along the smooth glass bottle as he lowered his head so that she could barely see him staring up from under his hitae-ate, emphasizing the magnitude of his words, "partially lust and partially love, which I assume you've already figured out, since you bothered to come here tonight."

"I had my suspicions. Though don't think that your love will erase the memory of your misdeeds." She leaned forward and grabbed the bottle, "do you know that I love you?"

He chuckled, "I had my suspicions, and yes, I realize that our love doesn't discount my poor behavior. Though you have to admit, I made an exceptional bad boy."

"Which amounts to very little besides the pleasure of admitting it after decades of stubborn refusal. You still live under the confines of the elders."

She took a drink and slid the bottle back across the table where it was quickly caught by his astounding reflexes.

"That's not entirely true. My mission to train you was never recorded, and I suspect it was nothing more than a personal favor to the Uchiha by the Hokage. As far as the law is concerned, you were never my student."

She soaked in the irony and eventually began to laugh with Kakashi knowingly joining in. "Much ado about nothing. What a waste of our emotions..." She mused.

The laughter died down as Kakashi took another drink, "Riba, did you ever fantasize?"

"About us together? Sometimes...I bought an abandon mansion inside a dormant volcano peak in the Uindo Mountain Range. I've imagined what it would be like to live there with you. We could rest there while being completely hidden from view, and protected from the wrath of Konoha by the secrecy of the Uindo high council."

He leaned back, "I'm impressed...much more detailed and romantic than I would have guessed."

"And your fantasies aren't?"

"Well, they're less politically supported I suppose. I've always regretted that I couldn't take you out to dinner, you know, somewhere nice. Where you could tell me about your adventures as a criminal and I could tell you about my adventures as a commander. Maybe go to a bookstore together, since we both love to read. And of course, train and spar. I miss that dearly..." He swished the remaining bit rum around the bottle, "but unfortunately, none of that will ever happen. I'm Konoha, you're Akatsuki, and tomorrow is world war."

"At least we have tonight. It might not be much, but it's something."

"Does that mean you're ready to see under the mask?"

"My answer hasn't changed, I don't especially care."

"You never know, you might like it."

"And you might be just another pretty face. I've had plenty of those."

"So our spies tell us. Though, would you turn down the chance to add another to your collection?"

She grinned slightly, revealing the alluring wildness of her youth. It comforted him to see hints of their past within the somber atmosphere that naturally preceded war. She walked around the table and stepped over his chair, straddling him, and slid down into his lap. He closed his eyes and whispered, "be warned, I don't plan to restrain myself tonight. Once we tart, I'm not going to stop."

She paused before reaching up and sliding a finger under the fabric at his neck, slowly pulling it over his chin and lips. He breathed in heavy at the cool rush of air that hit his face. She pulled the mask up over his eyes, catching his hitae-ate and pulling it off as well.

He opened his eyes at stared at her silent surprised as he grabbed her thighs and pulled her farther into his lap, "well? Am I not all that the barmaids of Konoha promised I would be?"

She dropped the mass of cloth to the floor and put her hand around his neck, tilting his head up, "you're an exceptionally attractive man, classically so...like a young model. Somehow, I had always pictured you looking older and more rugged. Not at all what I expected."

"I make up for it with experience," he grabbed her waist and lifted her onto the edge of the table and stepped between her legs. Smiling devilishly as he unzipped his flack jacket and let it fall to the floor.

She ran her hands along his chest as he pulled off his shirt and threw it aside. He was built like a soldier, a lifetime of physical training having shaped his muscles for maximum tone. His silvery white hair, no longer held up by his hitae-ate, fell to the side and covered part of his face. He ran his hand through it in a fruitless effort to slick it back as he reached down and pulled at the collar of her jumpsuit.

His seductive grin excited her. She had never actually seen what his facial expressions looked like, and the sight of his thin lips curling up at the sides as his eyes narrowed made her nerves tingle. He ran his hand under her collar, sensing his intent to rip it off, she placed her hand over her chest and used Hiraishin no Jutsu to teleport her jumpsuit away. He laughed in pleasant surprise as she smiled and reached down towards her stockings.

He grabbed her hand, "Leave them on."

She leaned back onto the table as he stared at her long curvy body and pale skin. She was toned, as expected of a master swordsman, but still luscious. He ran his hands along her waist, admiring her thin hour glass figure.

He began to felt the tightness of arousal. His eyes drifted over and the rum bottle suddenly caught his attention. He reached over, picked it up, and slid the rim down her stomach, leaving a small trail of liquor. He dragged it slightly down her inner thigh before sliding it up inside of her. She squirmed at the sudden contact of the cool glass, but he quickly rested his hand on her chest and held her in place as he slowly pulled out the bottle and put it to his lips, throwing back his head and drinking the last bit of rum as he gently ran his other hand over her chest.

Her eyes followed the bottle as he threw it aside, staring in aroused surprise as the liquid dripped down her thigh, "is this one of the fantasies?"

He smirked, "No, Icha Icha."

He undid his pants and pushed her back against the table, resting his head on the side of her neck. She could feel herself stretching open, and the muscles in his chest tense against her as he tried to push himself deeper inside of her small body. She breathed deeply at the pleasurable sensation of being full and the scent of rum as it leaked from between their bodies. She wrapped her arms around his back and pulled him tight against her as she felt him shift his feet on the floor. He grunted as she pulled her hips tight against his, matching his rhythm.

He reached up and grabbed the edge of the table, holding them down tightly against its surface as he moved in short hard thrusts. The last few years worth of practice had given him outstanding aim, and each thrust sent spikes of elation through her nerves. The muscles in her thighs and abdomen tightened. He instantly noticed the increased friction, "not yet, hold on."

"...I...can't...I'm too close."

He groaned, "hold on."

He started to get quicker and rougher with each thrust. It started to hurt, though the pain was greatly overshadowed by being on the verge of absolute satisfaction.

She turned her head and stared at his smoldering eyes as he bit down on her shoulder. She could feel him pulsating inside of her, just slightly out of sink with her own vibrating muscles.

Eventually, their bodies calmed and his knees began to buckle. He pulled himself up from the table, simultaneously pulling her to her feet.

"I think I need to lie down," he sighed.

She nodded in exhausted agreement and followed him upstairs. He pulled up his pants and looked for a blanket, as she flipped over the old futon mat on the floor to its cleaner side. He grabbed a few pillows and a sheet from her old linen chest and dragged them over as he collapsed beside her on the dusty mat.

He rolled onto his stomach, laid his arm over her waist, and kissed her cheek nonchalantly as if he had done it every night of their lives, "I love you. Sleep well."

She pulled the blankets over their bodies, "I love you too."


	20. Ferocious Facade

Disclaimer: I own Uindo not Naruto.

...

It was still dark out when Riba awoke. The morning was cold and she dreaded the idea of giving up her place under the blankets beside Kakashi's warm body. His breathing was long and slow, a sign that he was in a very deep slumber.

She stared at his peaceful expression. His youthful appearance and haphazard hair made him look more like a guy in his mid-twenties who had been out drinking all night, than the older elite commander that he was. Though, her appearance was an illusion that didn't age past thirty, so she probably looked much the same as him.

She teleported out from under his arms and into the shower, trying to be as stealthy as possible. The plumbing was old, but the water was warm, though a bit sparse. Kakashi didn't stir nor move an inch as she dried off and went downstairs.

She strapped her infamous black sword to her back as she ran over to the ANBU headquarters. Hiding in plane sight seemed like the best option, and was surprisingly effective as her gloves and hitae-ate bore the Konoha symbol, and everyone was too distracted with war preparations to examine past that. She stood across the street from the entrance without as much as a second glance from the shinobi entering and leaving.

Eventually, four women in black suits with cat masks emerged from the building and began to walk towards the city gates. Riba ran up and walked beside them. Red eyes stared out from under Kurenai's mask as she turned to assess the intruder in the Ferocious Four's personal space. She glared in confusion, "oh god, Riba, is that you?"

Anko unceremoniously pulled up her purple accented mask, "damn Uchiha! Welcome back...oh, and I like the new eyes, you look much less like a freak."

Kurenai quickly looked around, and seeing that they were relatively unnoticed by passersby, she hooked her arm around Riba and briskly strode into a nearby alley with Shian, Anko, and Sakura following close behind.

"Riba, you know that I love you like a sister and am happy to see you, but you really need to leave the city. People will attack an Akatsuki on sight," Kurenai insisted.

"I'm Uchiha Uindo first and Akatsuki last. I came to help you win this war."

Anko balked, "you know who else came? Kakashi last night. There are spies everywhere and everyone in ANBU headquarters knows. You know what else everyone knows about? You and Sasuke. I don't blame you for screwing around with those fine specimens of men, but thanks to your fraternization with both sides, the consensus around here is that you have turned into a true, cold blooded, criminal. If you go onto the battle field today, both sides are going to attack you, and we can't protect you from our own army."

"Wait, how did you guys know about Sasuke?"

"I'm sure that Sakura would be happy to tell you in great detail, if you have a few hours to hear about it..."

Sakura laughed uncomfortably as Riba stared in confusion, "it doesn't matter. I'm not here to get intelligence updates or even ask you to fight under my command."

Kurenai leaned in, "you will always be my commander, from Northern Fifty to the grave. What can we do for you?"

They all nodded in firm agreement as Riba backed father into the alley and they followed behind. She whispered, "I need you to be my disguise. Shian, I will need your ANBU uniform. Go into the headquarters and grab the most generic looking spare that you can find. I will be taking your place on the battle field."

"You plan to be me? I don't think that's going to work, we only look passingly similar. Even with the uniform and mask, if someone were to inspect you close enough..."

"It's fine. No one is going to look that close with the chaos of battle happening around them. Everyone will be distracted by the flood of Kabuto's resurrected shinobi and the clones of that Zetsu has created."

Kurenai whispered, "Zetsu's clones number over a hundred thousand and no one is sure how many shinobi Kabuto has resurrected. How do you plan to kill them all?"

"I don't. They're not the target, we're going to pass them by and aim for Uchiha Madara."

"The leader of the Akatsuki? Why would he take the risk of entering the field of combat himself? He is probably hold up deep inside Akatsuki headquarters right now."

"Madara is a Uchiha. His arrogance prevents him from trusting anyone to be as powerful or clever as himself, therefore he has to be on the field to ensure that everything goes smoothly. I still have my Hyuuga senses, and am sure that I can find the real him no matter how many shadow clones he tries to fool us with."

"And you can defeat him?"

Riba grinned, "I've spent years developing a Jutsu especially for an occasion like this. I've never used it the way that I will today, but theoretically it should work."

Shina peaked around Anko, "if you're going to be me, what am I supposed to do as a generic ANBU shinobi?"

"You have the most important mission of all. Once combat begins, find Third Division Commander Hatake Kakashi. I have a great deal of information that you will need to tell him. Repeat it exactly as I tell it to you. Do not, under any circumstances, get caught up in the battle or otherwise fail to deliver the information. You have to make him listen at all costs. Now go get a uniform and I will brief you as we get dressed."

...

Zetsu's clones tore through the first three lines of Konoha's defenses and plowed relentlessly towards the city. Kabuto's resurrected elite shinobi followed close behind decimating anyone that was able to survive the initial onslaught. Corpses covered the rolling hills outside the gates of Konoha, bubbling and oozing from Zetsu's infectious poison.

Riba lead Kurenai, Sakura, and Anko across the blood soaked field and into a forest that lay on Konoha's far side. They dodged the clones and leaped over the bodies, trying to attack only when necessary and always continue to push forward. They ran past various former members of the Northern Fifty, slain in battle and mutilated. The pain of seeing people that Riba had sacrificed everything short of her soul to protect, struck deep within her psyche. None the less, they never stopped moving.

The onslaught lessened as they jumped into the trees and leapt from branch to branch. The forest was too dense to fight a major battle in, thus was the perfect place to hide. Eventually they began to tire, the psychological effects of war combined with the strenuous distance running and periodic combat would have been too much for anyone less than former Northern Fifty ANBU. They were well accustomed to pushing themselves past the point of endurance.

Finally they stopped, just short of a small clearing. Riba looked around for a moment before signaling the others, "this is where I leave you. Find Shian if you're able, and help her get to Kakashi. I'll take it from here."

They stared at Riba for a moment, knowing that it may be the las time they ever see her, and give short bows of respect before continuing back towards the battle field.

Riba stepped into the clearing. It was a sunny day and the wind blew periodically through the long grass and weeds. She took off her mask an dropped it to the ground as she walked slowly towards where Madara sat, resting peacefully. He vaguely looked in her direction as she began to sit down at his side, slightly waving in greeting.

She smiled gently as the sun bathed her face in an innocent glow, and she disappeared.

His skin made a snap and rip sound as she pushed her sword through his spine, out his ribcage, and into the ground in front of him. There was no blood from the cauterized wound, only the smell of burning and bubbling flesh. The skin around the sword curled in and turned black as small tufts of smoke drifted up into his nose.

He coughed and gaged from the smell, but before he could breathe in, the searing heat was replaced with a chilling cold that traveled down the blade and into his body. It filled his lungs and forced him to choke as his drowning reflexes triggered. It flowed into his torso from his organs out to his skin. He shivered, and each movement pushed his ribs against the sword, slicing the nerves and sending pain coursing through his body.

The coldness swirled around in his veins before retracting back into the sword. He felt himself gradually weaken as his tensed muscles give out. He could no longer hold himself up, and only the blade lodged in his chest kept him from falling forward.

She gradually pulled the blade out stood above him as he collapsed to the ground. He rolled on to his side while wheezing and gasping for air. She crouched down in front of him, rested her forearms on her knees, and watched through his orange swirled mask as the Sharingan in his eyes dissipated into the inky blackness of his iris.

He tried to laugh, but could only gurgle as liquid from his stomach backed up into his throat, "I thought you wouldn't kill your own kind..."

"You'll live."

"How did you..."

"Riba-su no Jutsu. My dark chakra leaked through the conductive metal of my sword and bonded with your chakra, which I then absorbed back into my body. Without chakra, you have nothing, not even the power of your eyes. I bet you wish that you could have copied my genius new technique..."

He growled, "Riba-su no Jutsu?...meaning _Reverse_?...how witty of you..." He tried to push himself up, but without chakra and with a gaping wound in his chest, he fell forward hard, causing his muscles to seize in pain as the ground pushed his exposed rib forcefully back into his body.

"Don't get up on my account," she mocked.

"Fuck you."

She pushed on his spine and he squirmed at the throbbing of his nerves. Her eyes morphed into her Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, and she stared at him with its golden design, "you can stay here until either Zetsu finds you, your chakra recovers, or you dies of exposure. But make no mistake, if you so much as wince in a manner that displeases me, I will burn your body to ash with Amaterasu and blow you away in the wind. History will know you as the first and only Uchiha to be killed by a Sovereign."

He coughed and choked as blood began to fill his lungs, "I still have seven of the nine bijuu. I can't be stopped..."

She lunged forward, digging her nails into the dirt and grass. Her jaw locked shut and she ground her teeth as her body convulsed. Dark gray scales ejected out of her skin and slowly folded back, covering her like a reptile. She pulled clumps of grass through her hands as she screamed and shook. Her eyes narrowed around her Sharingan as she slammed her head down beside his, scales emerging in layers around her face until her skin had completely disappeared beneath them.

She growled in a voice entirely unlike her own and grinned under a stretched scaly jaw, "let's try."


	21. The Last Bow

Disclaimer: I own Uindo not Naruto.

...

Division Commanders Kakashi and Shikamaru stood on the on the brink of destruction. The White Zetsu Clone Army combined with Kabuto's shinobi poisoned and mutilated battalion after battalion of the Five Shinobi Nation's Allied Army. Genin and Chunin had proved near useless, as had many of the Jounin. Only the most elite shinobi had survived and were holding back more than their share of Madara's forces.

They looked over the blood and flesh strewn field, straining to keep fighting against the seemingly unending onslaught of Akatsuki.

Kakashi staggered forward, he had overused his Mangekyo Sharingan almost to the point of blindness and had been out of chakra for hours. He had nothing left but his skill in Taijutsu, and that was quickly failing against the reincarnates of the worlds greatest shinobi, who were fully equipped with all the Jutsu and chakra from their previous lives.

He stumbled towards a group of shinobi that were being overrun by clones, when he felt a small hand fall gently on his shoulder. He turned to see Shian collapsing onto him. Her arm had been sliced entirely open and was barely connected, and small amounts of Zetsu's poison had infected various other wounds across her body.

"Kakashi, you must retreat. Fall back to the city wall," she demanded.

He searched the area for a medic as he lowered her to the ground, "We can't let them get that close. We have to keep holding them back."

"Riba sent me. She's coming, but can't attack with everyone on the field. You'll all be killed along with the Akatsuki if you don't leave now."

"I can't depend on her. We can't afford it."

She reached up and grabbed his jacket, "trust in her like you love her."

Her words struck him, silencing the chaos in his mind and setting him straight. Like Sakura and Naruto, Riba was on his team for life, and his team was everything. He yelled to Shikamaru, "Full retreat to the wall!"

Shikamaru stood stunned, debating how to react as Kakashi lifted Shian into his arms, "Shikamaru, full retreat now!"

He half dragged Shian across the field, stepping over infected corpses and pools of blood. Droves of Konoha Jounin followed, trying desperately to outrun the pursuing Akatsuki forces.

He breathed heavy, straining to run, "Shian, what now?...What do we do?"

"Stand against the wall and wait."

"We can't wait," she groaned.

"You have to."

He saw the city over the next hill, and stumbled as he pulled her up it. He debated whether he could make it any further or whether he should stop and fight off the clones that followed close behind.

A thunderous crack emanated from the city as a claw, as large as a building, began to reach over the wall. In seconds, hundreds of gigantic five-tailed dragons flew through the clouds, blocking out the sun through shear size and number.

The rolling snaps of their scales rubbing against each other pierced his ears. He ran down the hill, laid Shian in the shadow of the wall, and stared mesmerized at the flight of the dragons as they snaked through the sky.

"Shian, what is this?" He shouted.

"Riba."

"How?"

"Weren't you the one that taught her how to make exploding shadow clones? This is Sen Ryuu no Jutsu..._Thousand Dragon._"

The dragons tore through the sky raining streams of Amaterasu down upon the Akatsuki. Zetsu's plant based clones were no match for the ever burning black fire. The dragons snatched up Kabuto's shinobi in their enormous jaws and shook and tossed them between each other as if they were toy balls being thrown between children. The wooden dolls that Kabuto had injected with the souls of the dead, fell from the sky and shattered against the ground.

Eventually, as if it had all been an elaborate taunt, the city sized statue that held the Akatsuki's seven captured bijuu burrowed up from its underground hiding place. The monolith appeared human-like in form with spikes emanating from its body and its eyes blinded.

The dragons immediately turned on the stature and swarmed over it, curling their tails around its body to prevent being shaken off as the statue struggled to defend itself. Their interference made the statue lose balance and drop to the ground with a crash resembling an earthquake. Various stragglers crawled over its body looking for even more space to latch on.

The mass of dragons pulled up simultaneously and rose into the sky, disappearing above the clouds with the statue encapsulated within them. For a moment, the world seemed perfectly silent.

The explosion ripped through and vaporized the clouds as pressure waves pulsated over the battle field and into the distance. The seven great bijuu fell to the ground, one by one emerging from the trance that had controlled them and dodged falling pieces of statue as they ran off in various directions, and disappeared from sight.

Sakura ran over, followed closely by Anko and Kurenai. They pulled Shian out of Kakashi's arms and Sakura immediately began to heal her. Shikamaru ran by and Kakashi waved him over, "what's the situation?"

"It's unbelievable. The remaining Zetsu clones are melting."

Shian groaned, "They were powered by the bijuus chakra. All that's left are Kabuto's shinobi. They weren't resurrected the same way as people in Uindo. They're slivers of souls trapped inside wooden dolls."

"Shikamaru, send the remaining forces forward with orders to decimate them all," Kakashi commanded. He nodded approvingly at Sakura as he turned and began to run across the field. His body was weak, leaving him to press forward solely on willpower.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Genma began to run along side him, panting as if about to collapse, "what's happening?"

"Riba."

Genma weakly grunted as they continued to run towards the site of the explosion, miles away from the city. The battle field was slippery from the blood soaked mud, and patches of earth still burned and crackled from the black fire of Amaterasu.

Kakashi's vision began to tunnel from blood loss and oxygen deprivation, and his muscles were beginning to give out. Genma had fallen behind, leaving him to climb over the rubbled remains of the statue alone.

The grass had been ripped from the ground by the pressure of the explosion, and singed stone fragments lay half buried in the ground, jetting out at strange angles. The stone was still hot and uncomfortable to the touch, pushing Kakashi to climb even faster.

He pulled himself over the edge of a large crater and let his battered body slide down inside of it. Though his vision was blurred, he was able to make out the form of Riba's body. Three of her tails had been blown completely off while the other two bent at unnatural angles. Chucks of scales had been ripped away, leaving only swollen ,bloody, gray flesh. Her long body was curled up as if she was struggling to stay warm.

He crawled up to her and grabbed one of her scales, larger than his hand and cold to the touch. His legs had long since given out, leaving him to slowly pull himself from scale to scale along her body. He groaned as the muscles in his arm seared in pain as if they were tearing. He lost his grip and slid to the ground. He reached up and tried to grab the closest scale, but it disintegrated in his hand and blew away. The scales seemed to be breaking down, as if they were turning to ash.

He scrambled along the ground and pulled himself up to her head, laying against her neck, close enough her to slowly turn and stare at him with half-open Mangekyou Sharingan eyes. She shifted slightly in an attempt to shake him off, but was too weak to move him.

Small wisps of gray particulate flowed down her body and off into the air as the disintegration accelerated. Her body shook with each hard earned breath, straining to push him way.

He tried to reach up and rub her comfortingly but could only manage a gentle brush before his heavy hand sank back to the ground, "I'm not going to leave you to die in a blood soaked ditch alone."

The expanding and contracting of her lungs lessened with each breath. He closed his eyes, expecting to feel the last of it.

"Kakashi?" a voice asked, ragged with exaustion.

He struggled to see the source in his peripheral vision as Genma strained to reach him from behind a curved piece of rubble. "Take my hand," Genma commanded.

Kakashi coughed and sputtered as his throat was almost too dry to speak, "Don't touch us...everything disintegrates. Her clothes, her weapons, everything she touches. That's how it works. Go back or you'll disintegrate with us."

"Man, don't do this. Just take my hand." Genma tried to move farther forward, but Kakashi remained still, smiling with a knowingly sarcastic grin.

"Look at her! Do you think this is what she wants?" Genma snapped.

Kakashi didn't answer, not even bothering to explain. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on the smooth surface of her scales against his face as his body began to pull itself apart.

He could feel his skin drift off, as if it was still with him, yet far away and fluid; stretched yet connected. He tried to concentrate on his last though, what it should be and who he should remember. His friends and family, The Little Boxer, training with Riba in the Uchiha Compound. The memories became harder to recall and his mind separated.

It was quiet.


	22. Golden Eyes

Disclaimer: I own Uindo not Naruto.

...

Naruto scaled the steps of the dreary gray building with Asuma Jr. following close behind. The men walked under the column supported stone overhang and pushed open the metal plated double doors.

Asuma looked around gleefully, "you know, when I was a student at the Uindo Academy, I used to come to the library all the time."

Naruto chuckled, "personally, I never enjoyed reading, but since has become most of my job as Hokage, I've learned to tolerate it."

The large circular room resembled the interior of the columns inside the Uindo High Council building. The intricate stone shelves were carved with scenes of people writing, playing, and fighting. Though ancient, the building and books appeared to be meticulously well maintained.

A lone man stood on the other side of the room, sitting on the edge of a table with his back to them, flipping carefully through a small leather-bound leaflet.

Asuma tried to walk over to him but was quickly halted by Naruto's heavy hand on his shoulder, "let me."

He walked across the room and leaned onto the table, "it's been a while..."

Neji stood up and turned around in restrained surprise. His black Uindo robes and long braided hair gave him a regal appearance. He remained motionless, as if not sure whether to attack.

Sensing his confusion, Naruto raised his hands in surrender, "we're not here to hunt missing-nin. We just want to talk, and no one in Uindo seems willing to answer."

"Then obviously, I'm even less likely to answer."

"Listen, I don't want to make this difficult. We just want to know who is in charge..."

"The Sovereign."

"And who is the Sovereign?"

Neji snapped his book shut, "the woman in charge."

"Yes, but what's her name? Who is she? Who is her Royal Guard?...Any one we happen to know?" Naruto decided to try a different angle, "who represents the Uchiha in the High Council sessions? Two people? Three perhaps?"

Neji threw his booklet on the table with a loud slap that silenced Naruto and made Asuma jump, "why are you here? What do you _want_?"

Naruto pulled aside his long white coat, revealing the bag strapped around his shoulder. He carefully removed a well worn stack of papers, wrapped in cloth and tightly bound with string. The label on the front was so faded that Neji had to squint to read, "..._Golden Eyes_?..What is this?"

Naruto quickly squeezed the bundle back into his bag, "a mission report, though more like a memoir, written during the Fourth Shinobi World War by Hatake Kakashi."

"So? He was never of any interest to me."

"His family was looked down upon by the elders. Even after the death of his parents, he was targeted and harassed. This is a record of the Konoha elder's illicit dealings against their own people, and how it affected his life personally."

"And you plan to confront them with it?"

"Not confront, _publish_. Let it spread through Konoha like wildfire, and watch as the public revolts against them. If they're smart, they'll resign. If not, then I'll have them stand trial for misappropriation of the law and abuse of power."

Neji paused, "I see, and what would you need me for?"

"Give us the ending. His writing stopped right before the last battle at Konoha. We have first hand accounts, but that's all. We want to know what eventually happened to the people on this list."

Naruto slid a small slip of paper to Neji, who glanced over the names without bothering to pick it up, "well, Riba and Kakashi were lost in combat during the war. Itachi was killed by Sasuke, and from what I hear, you killed Sasuke shortly after."

"That's what the reports say, but given the unique skills of the Uindo people, we have reason to question them. Riba and Kakashi dissolved. I've seen people in Uindo do that and they didn't die. Then there is the possibility of resurrection. Really, we just want to know if the four of them are alive and possibly hiding in the city...or ruling it."

Neji looked around the room and eventually walked over to the opposite side. He reached up onto a shelf barely within his grasp, and pulled down a thick, newly bound novel, "this is the personal writings of the 1247th Sovereign, Uchiha Uindo Riba. It should provide you with a wealth of information about Konoha from her point of view. It's a copy obviously; they keep the original locked away in storage, but my understanding it that this is an exact replica. You can combine it with Kakashi's report."

Naruto grabbed the book and flipped through, "this is amazing. I had no idea that it existed."

Asuma watched over his shoulder and stopped him as he approached the end, "look, it stops before the last few days of the war. Which means that as great as this may be, it still doesn't answer our question."

"Then stop asking it," Neji snapped. "Whether they are alive or dead doesn't matter for what you're trying to accomplish."

Naruto closed the book and bowed with reverence, "thank you Neji."

Neji gave a small nod as Naruto turned to leave. He strode across the library and through the doors before Asuma was able to catch up.

"We can't leave yet," Asuma insisted.

"Yes we can. He's right, it doesn't matter what happened to them, and it would be prudent of us to stop trying to track them down."

"But the story has no ending! We can't publish it like this."

Naruto looked over the surrounding mountain range, "don't worry, I have an ending..."

_And they all lived happily ever after,_

_The End_


End file.
